Too Young to Play With Us
by AnIdiotIsBetterThanAKnowItAll
Summary: Sesshomaru makes a bet. He plans to make the new 8th grader Rin fall in love with him within a month. Will Rin be like all of his other victims in the past? Combine this with the fact that RIn is only 13 and Sesshomaru is 17 and you have a story! Lolicon!
1. Chapter 1

Too Young To Play With Us

Rin POV:

Finally! It was my first day at Higurashi High. Except I wasn't _actually_ in high school yet. You see, in Higurashi High, they combine 6th through 12th grade into the same school. I however, wasn't just starting out junior high, I was an 8th grader but with my mother's job we hadn't moved to Tokyo until the beginning this summer.

I'd never been in a real school though, always homeschooling. For this reason, I'd been looking forward to the school year starting for the past three months. I hopped out of bed and ran to my closet. I quickly grabbed for the clothes I'd planned out last night.

My outfit consisted of a lose blue basketball style top that hung lightly over my right shoulder with the number 89 on the front along with white short shorts that hardly kept up with the school dress code, I would be surprised though if they were to call me out on it, no one cared enough to check on it. As for shoes I went with a simple sandal to show off my pink nail polish.

I gave myself a quick look in the mirror before grabbing for a hairbrush. My hair was a frizzy mess, after brushing it perhaps it was decent. Even so, I had no idea why my old friends from America obsessed over it as if it were a work of art. Maybe it was merely because I had self-esteem issues that I thought this way, better it be to low than to high, I assumed.

I went downstairs to eat breakfast. It would have taken me longer to get ready had my mother allowed me to wear make-up like most girls my age. She said I still had child-like beauty and I wouldn't need make-up unless my natural beauty faded. The only part of that statement I agreed with was the child-like part. I'll admit, if I tried I could easily pass for an 11 year old, if not perhaps 13 or 14 at most, I hated that about me.

Mom had prepared a large stack of pancakes for me. I gave her a thankful smile. Were 4 pancakes too many for someone my age? Perhaps. Either way, I needed to grow. I was sick of being 4' 11" and only 35 kilograms! Five feet here I come! I pulled out the dining room chair and began with my feast. Mom was a fantastic cook, Dad always secretly told me I was better though. My cooking was one of the few things I could be proud of…back when Dad was still alive.

I finished my food quickly without much conversation with Mom. All she told me was to have a good first day at school and I didn't reply. She and I didn't communicate much since Dad's death. Half the time it was like living by myself. I ran upstairs to brush my teeth and went back to my room. I grabbed my purple backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I went back down and gave Mom a peck on the cheek before starting out on the 10 minute walk to school.

As I walked I kept myself smiling with thoughts of how great the new school year would be. I hoped to make a bunch of friends almost immediately. I squeezed my eyes shut at the excitement of the thought. I looked across the street to see a couple of girls laughing, not at me, I assumed. I realized, however, that I assumed wrong when one of the girls began pointing as she laughed. I questioned to myself what was wrong with how I looked when I realized that the girl's laughs weren't taunting laughs, but rather flirty giggles.

Oh right. I forgot, they did that here. Better not to get involved, I would probably only embarrass myself with my first slight attempt at flirting. I looked down at the floor as I got closer to the school. I reminded myself that I had to show confidence in order to be in a place like this. I picked my head back up to see what _had_ to be the object of what the girls had been talking about. He was surely a senior, much too old for me, I supposed.

That didn't change the fact that he was gorgeous. He had shiny silver hair, not the type that would age a person, all it did was make him look better. I hid my head behind a girl in front of me as I got a better look. His face didn't disappoint either, he was beautiful. His body, most likely, left little to be desired as well. His girlfriend surely knew that she was one of the luckiest girls alive, whoever she was. I wasn't envious, but perhaps longing for someone who looked like _that_ to be my age.

As the girl in front of me moved I turned my gaze away from the boy feeling my cheeks getting warmer. I heard the boy laugh, I hoped not about me. I realized that my hopes weren't in vain when I heard one of his friends say something about one of his old girlfriends being a _whore_. Was that a word that was thrown around often in high school?

I took my cell phone out of my pocket realizing that I only had 3 minutes until my first class. I ran in front of the beautiful boy trying to keep a steady pace as not to trip, knowing that would be a good possibility considering my terrible balance. As soon as I walked into the main hall way a young boy about my age approached me.

"Hi! I'm Kohaku." He said putting his hand out, expecting a handshake.

I gave him what he wanted along with a small smile before introducing myself. "I'm Rin."

He seemed to not understand, however, the idea of letting go of a person's hand when you're done greeting them. I helped him by pulling away myself trying to be suttle as not to offend him. He w_as_ the first friend I'd made here.

"What grade are you in?" He asked casually.

"Eighth. What about you?" I asked.

"Same. Well Rin, want me to walk you to the school auditorium? That's where we get the new information about the school year." He inquired.

I smiled widely. "Sure, if it's not too much trouble." I replied, knowing fully well that I had no idea where the school's auditorium was.

He took my hand in his, I supposed this was his way of being forward. I blushed and turned away. When I turned I saw that boy again. This time he actually seemed to be noticing me. That couldn't mean anything though. I was to average to be payed much attention to by him. However, considering this, it was taking him quite a long time to turn away. 'All well, no reason to look into it.' I told myself.

Sesshomaru POV:

As we made our way to the school's front entrance we reminisced about all of the terrible girlfriends we'd all had in our past years at Higurashi High. Inuyasha brought up Kikyo from his freshman year and how much of a mistake she'd been. Miroku laughed and commented on how much of a whore she was then and still is. I laughed with them.

If I dare assume what you may or may not be thinking, you're correct. I'm known as the school player. Even knowing this, far too many of the girls fall into my traps. Some of them, however, deserve it. Such as Yuka or Kagura. I had dated them when we were all naïve, even then I knew it was stupid. The only reason I even attempted going out with Kagura was because I'd heard from all of her previous boyfriends that it was easy to get into her pants.

They were right. It wasn't worth it though. I'd decided by my sophomore year that I wouldn't go for easy girls anymore. I joked with the guys about perhaps beginning dating younger girls knowing they were more innocent. That's why innocence is now one of my main preferences in girls. It was a mere joke back then, now it was more of a prank.

You see, every time a new girl would come in the junior high section of the school, the guys would bet me that within a certain time period that I could or couldn't get the girl to fall in love with me. Even though I had never lost before, I was far to charming for that, the guys continued to make the bets. I didn't mind, merely more money in my pocket, and as far as it went for them, I supposed it was just for entertainment purposes.

As soon as I could manage to get the girl to admit she loved me, I called off the relationship. Cluel? Perhaps. Fun? Hell yeah! The girls of course had to be beautiful. Even if I was going into lolicon didn't mean I was going to lower my standards. That was the beauty of a new school year: New meat.

As I looked ahead with a grin still on my face from what the guys had been talking about, I saw a young girl walking in front of me. She must be new. She looked _beautiful_, even from the back. I would have gotten a better view had she not been walking so fast.

"Sesshomaru? Hey!" Inuyasha said, snapping a finger in my face.

I blinked and looked to see his face inches from mine.

"Hey. Uhhh…To close?" I asked. Even if he was my brother I didn't feel the need for this much closure.

He laughed. "Sorry, Dude. I just didn't want you to miss the new meat." He said pointing ahead to the girl I'd been looking at.

I laughed back. "Of course I didn't miss it. What you think I was looking at? How old do you think she is?"

"Around 11. At most she's a 7th grader." He told me. I agreed with a nod.

"What grade are you in?" I heard a boy around the corner ask.

I peeked my head around to see Kohaku, the annoying 8th grade boy I'd known ever since he'd been trying to follow in my footsteps, I saw him talking to the new girl.

"Eighth. What about you?" She asked politely with an innocent voice. Innocence? A turn on.

"Same. Well Rin, want me to walk you to the school auditorium? That's where we get the new information about the school year." He asked her.

So, her name was Rin? I felt a stinge of jealousy knowing that he'd found out her name before me. And he'd gotten the chance to ask her _personally_. I'd never actually felt jealousy over a younger girl. It had never been real. It still wasn't real. It was probably just an emotion that I couldn't identify yet.

I walked by her, attempting to get a better look at her face. She looked even better from the front. She was more gorgeous than any of the other girls I'd tried anything with. She didn't even wear make-up, she was naturally beautiful. She was probably conceited though, I couldn't imagine anyone looking like that and not being extremely self-centered. She didn't seem it though. Her entire self gave off "innocent little girl who just wants to make new friends."

I couldn't stop staring. Miroku had to pull me away. When I finally _did_ look away I felt the need to turn back. I looked at the hallway clock only to find that we had 2 minutes left until the meeting in the auditorium. Not enough time to say what I wanted. I would wait.

"You alright?" Miroku asked, looking honestly worried.

I looked at him with my most convincing expression. "Duh. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

He laughed. "I don't know. Just the way you were looking at her." He explained.

"I was looking at her like I would any girl I'm interested in playing with. What do you guys think? How much would you bet on her?" I asked with a small smirk.

"Huh? Well since she's hotter than any of the other girls you've tried this on I'm willing to double it." Inuyasha told me. Miroku nodded in approval.

I laughed. "You guys underestimate me. No matter who this chick is I can get her in a month!" I said with a cocky grin as I placed my hands in my pockets.

Miroku laughed. "You're only giving yourself a month! No way!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? So I suppose you wouldn't mind tripling it?"

Before Miroku could reply, Naraku stepped in.

"I want in. And yeah, I'll triple it." He told me.

I scowled. "It doesn't concern you, Naraku."

"Neither did the feelings of my little sister Kanna for you, yet you did the same thing to her when she was new here." He replied bitterly.

Naraku had hated us ever since I'd messed with his little sister 2 years ago. She still wasn't over it and Naraku insisted on letting me know that he wasn't going to take it lightly.

"…Fine Naraku. You can have in. Under one condition: No sabotaging." I told him.

"Fair enough." He complied. "I'm interested to see how this plays out." He said as he took his leave.

Inuyasha snarled. Miroku glared. I smirked.

"Piece of cake." I said as I began making my way to the auditorium with Inuyasha and Miroku following me.

"I wouldn't be so sure of myself if I were you, Sesshomaru. Perhaps this girl's different." Miroku tried to convince me.

I laughed. "All young girls are the same: Naïve, trusting, and simple minded. With the combination of all of those things it's easy for me to get almost any girl to love me."

Inuyasha POV:

I stopped for a minute before Sesshomaru was far ahead enough to not hear my next statement.

"Dear Brother of mine, I have a feeling this girl's going to be difficult for you. I would warn you…_but_ I think it's going to be too much fun for me. And who knows? Perhaps you could learn a lesson in this game of yours." I said with a smug smile.

Rin POV:

As soon as we got to the auditorium I did my best to get away from Kohaku. I realized almost immediately that he was far too clingy for anyone's good. I walked around for a few moments before I came across a girl who looked about my age. She had interesting white hair and looked friendly enough. She was with an older boy who looked quite protective. Most likely he was an older brother.

I walked beside her and introduced myself. She greeted me right away and introduced herself as Kanna and her older brother as Naraku. I didn't like the way Naraku kept looking at me but I was sure that me and Kanna could become pretty good friends. It turned out she was an 8th grader like me so she'd be in most of my classes.

Only a couple minutes into the conversation, I saw that boy again. He smiled at me this time. At least I thought it was for me. Perhaps not. I became more sure of myself though when he began coming to stand by me.

He put a hand out for me to shake. "Hey. I'm Sesshomaru. I suppose you must be Rin." He asked.

Him knowing my name threw me off. I didn't even think he'd given me half a thought until now.

"Ummm…yes. H…how'd you know?" I asked with a nervous laugh.

He grinned as if he thought my stuttering was…cute. Impossible. "I'm pretty sure I heard someone say your name earlier." He explained.

I smiled shyly, getting slightly more comfortable with the thought of talking to him.

"You're a senior, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. What grade are you in?" He asked. I got the impression that he already knew but I was sure that was wrong.

"Eighth. I just started public school this year." I said picking my head up slightly. I looked back at Kanna and she seemed…worried. For me?

I saw a couple of Sesshomaru's friends standing behind him, one looking very similar but not nearly as beautiful. That must have been brother. I heard the similar looking one mumble something to the other one, I assumed it was about me, making me feel slightly insecure.

I looked down, blood filling my cheeks before my face was gently pulled back up by his hand.

"Why do you look away? There's no reason to hide your face from anyone. Pretty girls shouldn't hide" He told me with a small smile.

I tightly closed my eyes out of embarrassment. I had never been told anything like that by anyone but Dad and even he didn't make it sound nearly that good.

"So cute…" I heard Sesshomaru's dark haired friend mutter to the other who nodded in agreement.

They couldn't be talking about me, right? Was anyone else seeing the same thing as me? I was such an average girl! I shouldn't even get to talk to someone as angelic looking as Sesshomaru.

All I could do in response was smile and say the first thing that came to mind. "You're prettier."

Everyone around me laughed. Was that a stupid thing to say? I looked down, my cheeks were on fire.

"No! Ummm…I meant something else!" I said, squeezing my eyes shut and turning away from the group.

Sesshomaru attempted to stop laughing for my sake but I could still hear the smile in his voice when he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Silly girl. You shouldn't be embarrassed. I just couldn't help myself from laughing." He said, the laughter coming out again.

I looked up. "Uhh…I think the announcements are about to start." I said, attempting to avoid further embarrassment.

"Really? Than Inuyasha, get Rin's schedule and get it to her before her first class. I wanna talk to you for a little while longer, Rin." He told me with a kind smile, putting a hand out giving me an option whether or not to take it.

Going against everything Mom had told me about not going off with a boy by myself, I took his hand and followed him with a smile. I had a good feeling about him, then again, Mom had always said that my instincts were as useful as a pen without ink. I ignored what Mom had said and decided today was a day to have fun.

Miroku winked at inuyasha as we walked away. Did that mean something?

Sesshomaru finally got me near the auditorium doors. I saw Kohaku there. Before I had time to turn away, he ran up to me wearing a huge grin.

"Rin! I found you." He seemed cheery until he looked up at saw the shadow staring him down. "Ummm…You and Sesshomaru started talking?" He asked.

I nodded, feeling heat radiating off of Sesshomaru, it must have been my imagination.

"That's probably not a good idea. He's not very good." He began.

"Shut up, kid! You speak as if I'm not here. Even if I wasn't, it's not like you have the right to talk. You're not much better." Sesshomaru interrupted. Perhaps it wasn't my imagination. Sesshomaru seemed pretty mad.

"…Well, I'm her age, for one." Kohaku mumbled.

I saw Sesshomaru's arm twitch, I could see how badly he wanted to flick Kohaku across the room. Why? All Kohaku had done was try to be my friend, right?

"Ummm…Let's go in the hallway to talk." I said, attempting to pull Sesshomaru away. Thankfully, he complied. Had he not been willing to leave, there would have been no way for me to get him away from Kohaku.

"Sure." Kohaku said, beginning to follow me. He looked up at Sesshomaru giving him a demonic glare before he realized what I meant.

"Oh. You were talking about him." He understood, sounding surprised.

"Duh, stupid." Sesshomaru smirked.

I turned back to lip the word "sorry" to Kohaku. He seemed to have already turned away. I looked down in shame of having hurt Kohaku's feelings.

Sesshomaru looked down at me and let out an annoyed breath.

"Why don't you like Kohaku?" I asked, curiosity making me itch.

"He doesn't know his boundaries." He explained without hesitation. "Age doesn't mean anything to me. Even if it did it still wouldn't be any of his business of whether you should know if I'm a good guy or not."

I smiled up at him. "But I think you're a good guy."

He chuckled. "You, obviously, are a very bad judge of character." He admitted.

My face fell. "Does that mean I shouldn't hang out with you?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer to that.

He laughed. "It depends. I'm gonna be honest, if you wanna be a good girl than you probably shouldn't but I'm not the kind of guy that's gonna purposely get you into trouble." He explained.

So he was giving me an option? I thought about it for less than a second before looking him in the eye. "I don't think I wanna be a good girl." I said with a smile.

He smiled. "Good. I don't want you to be either."

"Why not?" I inquired.

He smiled down at me. It wasn't until just now that I'd realized how tall he was. He must be at least 6' 2". With me being only 4' 11"? What a terrible match.

"I haven't even begun to get to know you. For instants: What's your favorite food?" He asked me.

I looked at him with squinty eyes. _That_ was his first question? Well, I guess you have to start somewhere.

"Candy." I told him with a smile.

He chuckled. "Just candy? That's not even a real food. What about your health?"

"What's the point of eating if you're not going to enjoy what you eat?" I asked with a smile.

"Nutrition." He answered simply.

I giggled. "Yup, but if you're going to do something that you need to do anyways, like eat, than you might as well make what you're eating something you like. That way you can think of it as fun instead of a chore, you know?" I explained.

Sesshomaru POV:

The way she said that put things in perspective for me. Perhaps if I made life funner with childish idea like hers, I wouldn't feel the need to get involved in games like this, where people get hurt. Even so, I was sure the way I was making life fun was better than hers.

After a few seconds with no reply from me, having been to deep in thought, Rin decided to move on.

"Next question?" She asked.

"What do your parents do?" I asked, smiling down at her in an attempt to make her as comfortable as possible.

"She works for military intelligence. That's all she can tell me, anything else would be illegal." She explained.

"And your father?" I asked, confused as to why she hadn't mentioned him along with her mother.

She looked down. "He's dead."

I immediately regretted having asked. I attempted an apology, not sure what it would be worth by now, but it still seemed like the proper thing to do.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…" I began.

She smiled up at me, widely. Almost to widely. It concerned me, perhaps she was trying to hide her pain behind a fake grin.

"It's fine. It's not your fault, it was a long time ago anyways." She told me. I wondered who she was trying to convince when she said that it was fine. Me or herself?

"I see. What kind of music do you listen to?" I asked, trying my best to stay away from the subject of family as much as possible.

"I like J-pop. Pretty much every kind of music as long as it's fun to dance to." She said with a smile.

"You like to dance?" I asked.

"Sure do!" She told me enthusiastically. "I've been in freestyle dance since I was five."

"Interesting. Do you do any other sports?" I asked, realizing that we'd just stepped out of the school hallway and into its parking lot.

"Yup. I like volleyball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, gymnastics, and softball." She said with a smile. My god! This girl was a ball of energy.

I chuckled. "Where do you get time to do all that?"

She giggled. "Well they're year round so I'm normally in about 2 or 3 sports at a time. Unfortunately, at this school you can only be in one sport. What about you?"

"What about me?" I asked.

"Are you in any sports?" She asked.

I laughed, allowing my ego to take hold for a second. I controlled it, remembering who I was talking to. 'Innocent little girls don't like conceited jerks.' I told myself.

"Well you haven't been going to this school long enough to know, but I'm actually captain of the football team. I play basketball in the off season though." I told her. Nope, that still sounded pretty cocky.

She beamed. "Sounds fun. I wanna see one of your games."

I smiled. I was happy with the way she didn't complain about my bragging like any normal girl would. I'm a guy, it's what we do.

"Sure. I'll get you a ticket. So what school did you go to before now?" I asked.

"None." She told me. "I was homeschooled."

The idea amused me. "So until now you've never been around people your ag?" I asked.

She laughed. "Well I wouldn't actually consider you _my_ age."

I laughed with her. True. Too bad for her I didn't care. A bet's a bet.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So how did you meet people?" I asked.

She laughed. "That was the easy part. They all came to me. All of my friends from America were guys. I have no idea why though." She said innocently.

I was shocked. She really didn't know how cute she was? How easy it would be for her to get a guy in the snap of a finger? Did she really think that all of her guy friends from America just wanted to be her friends? 'The naivety of a child' I thought, chuckling to myself.

"What's so funny?" She asked, confused.

"Nothing." I told her. "The assembly is probably gonna be over in a couple minutes. If you don't wanna be late for your first class than we'd better go."

She smiled. "Okay." She told me in a musical voice.

It wasn't until we turned around that I realized we were still holding hands. I smiled to myself before leading her back the way we came.

Rin POV:

I looked up at Sesshomaru for a moment as he led me back. He was smiling. I took me a moment of curiosity to realize that I was smiling as well. I supposed talking to him just made me happy. How weird.

When we got back, Sesshomaru's brother, Inuyasha handed me my papers. It was difficult to sort through them when everyone was trying to get to the exit.

"Here's your class schedule, school map, lunch menu, and extra curricular activities." Inuyasha told me with a friendly smile. I smiled back. Inuyasha seemed almost as nice as Sesshomaru.

"And here's your gym uniform." Miroku said with a perverted grin. He handed me a pair of skimpy looking shorts along with a white tank top. I smiled my thanks.

"You're going to love that, aren't you Miroku?" Asked Inuyasha sarcastically.

"Very much so. Too bad the boys and girls are separated for P.E. Such a shame." He said as his face fell.

I laughed as an annoyed looking girl with a lose ponytail hit him on the back of the head. "Stupid pervert." She complained.

The warning bell rang as I looked up at my new friends.

"I guess we need to go." Sesshomaru said, separating as the rest of them followed suit.

Before long I was left alone. I began the walk to my first class keeping my eyes glued to the map. A group of boys looking about fourteen or fifteen came up to me.

"Hi. Are you new here?" Asked a boy with red hair. I nodded with a smile.

"I'm Haku. This is Shippo and Hakudoshi." He told me, referring to the two friends standing next to him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rin." I replied.

"Well Rin, it looks like you're heading our direction. Want us to walk you to class?" Asked Haku.

I looked down at the map in my hands. I'd hardly left the auditorium and I was already confused by it.

"Yes please." I said with a thankful smile.

I followed Haku as he led me through several different hallways. He attempted to make small talk. Most of what he said bored me but I tried to look interested.

As we arrived at a classroom door labeled 214: 8th grade Math.

"Thanks guys, for walking me." I told them with a smile.

"Don't mention it." They all said in unison. I waved goodbye as they began walking away. I couldn't help but notice that they were now heading in the same direction we'd come from. They couldn't have gone out of their way to walk me to class, right? What would be the point?

I decided not to dwell on the thought as I walked into my class. A nice looking man sitting at the teacher's desk gave me a friendly smile. His name plate read "Mr. Hagami".

I smiled back at him before looking around the room. I was confused as to how the seating would work. Was it first come, first serve or were the seats assigned.

I saw Kanna walk in behind me. I smiled before following her. She looked upset.

I sat in the seat next to her and set my bag down.

"Kanna? What's wrong?" I asked.

"You are!" She said, turning toward me abruptly.

I was confused. I had made her mad? How? "What did I do?" I asked.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried for you and mad at Sesshomaru, I guess I'm pinning my anger on the wrong person." She smiled, I smiled back, relieve that she wasn't angry at me.

"Why are you mad at Sesshomaru?" I asked, confused.

She groaned. "Because, he's trying to trick you. He did the exact same thing to me when I was new here two years ago." She half explained. I still didn't get it.

"Come again?" I asked.

"Look. Him and his friends all have a bet when a new cute girl in the juniour high section of the school, meaning you, comes to the school. Sesshomaru's gonna try to make you fall in love with him." She said, holding me by my shoulders.

I looked at her, confusion obviously still written all over my face. "What's so bad about making me fall in love with him? I've never been in love before. Sounds fun." I said, looking up with a far away expression as I clasped my hands.

"No! Don't think like that! Fall in love and experience new emotions with some other guy!" She told me, now shaking my shoulders violently.

"Why?" I asked.

She sighed. "Because I don't want you to fall into the same trap I did. As soon as he gets a girl to admit they're in love with him he breaks up with her and moves onto the next poor innocent girl." She explained.

I finally understood, however, I didn't believe it. I'm not saying I think Kannas lying, she only wants to watch out for me. But I think what happened to her might have just been misfortune.

I removed her hands from my shoulders and looked into her eyes reassuringly. "Look Kanna, I know you're just trying to help me, but I need to live and make my own mistakes. If what you said about Sesshomaru is true than I'll find out and deal with the consequences myself, but right now I just wanna have some fun. Can you understand that?" I pleaded.

She nodded. "Fine. Let me know when you're done having your fun, then maybe we can be friends again. Until then I'll just wait for you to come to your senses." She said, turning away.

I sighed. Kanna was my first ever girl friend, all my friends in the past had been boys. Now I didn't even have her. I turned away from her to the seat next to me with a boy scribbling something on a piece of paper. He looked up and smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Hi, I'm Sota." He greeted, putting out a hand.

"I'm Rin." I replied, shaking his hand. Great. Another guy friend.

Me and Sota talked quietly before class started. He actually turned out to be pretty cool. He reminded me of my friends from America.

As the second bell rang Mr. Hagami stepped to the front of the room.

"Hello class. I'm Mr. Hagami. Most of you know me from 7th grade Math. I'm going to be your math teacher this year…again." He introduced. Some of the students in the front of the classroom laughed.

Mr. Hagami did a quick scan over the students as we each stood up and said our names. As soon as we finished that we dove into the first lesson of the year. He had a way of making Math fun. I was lucky to be in his class.

The period went by quickly. I glanced over to Kanna occasionally to see her staring intently, or at least pretending to stare intently, at the board. I assumed she was faking it, however, considering nothing was written on it.

The bell rang and I heard all the backpacks in the room zip up. I followed suit and got up to see that Kanna had already left. It was going to take a while to get things sorted out with her.

I turned back to Sota only to find him looking back at me. "Wanna walk to class together?" He asked.

I laughed to myself at his eagerness. "Ummm…sure, what do you have next?" I asked, pulling out my schedule.

"Grammar." He told me.

I smiled. "Me too. Let's go than." I said as he began to follow me out of the class.

As soon as I got out of the doorway I saw Haku and his friends standing there waiting for me.

Sesshomaru POV:

I walked through the hallway with Inuyasha and Miroku by my sides. Did I forget to mention that every year we pull some strings in order to get us in the same classes?

"Were you planning on walking Rin to her next class?" Asked Miroku.

"Probably. I just gotta find her first…" I told them. And as if on cue, there she was.

With…boys? Jealousy ran through me. She already had a group of little fanboys following her? One of them being Haku. _Why_ _in hell_ would she hang out with him. I got the idea that she wasn't the one who wanted them following her.

She saw me and waved with a smile. I waved back. Haku looked to see who she's been waving at and saw me. He glared attempting to intimidate me. I growled. He turned away from me and began talking to Rin. He was obviously doing that just to annoy me. Even worse, Rin didn't know Haku's ulterior motive. She thought that all she'd done was make another friend, she had no idea how the male mind worked.

I wanted to protect her from guys like him. What a weird thing to think of. No matter who the girl had been, I'd never felt the need to protect them. Was it her extreme amount of innocence to the world that made me that way?

Inuyasha nugged me, obviously trying to persuade me to go talk to Rin. I shook my head.

"There are too many guys with her right now." I explained.

He laughed. "Yeah! Rin's a little player. She might be better than you." Inuyasha commented.

I glared at him. "They're her friends." I replied.

He chuckled. "Suuuure they are."

I turned away before letting what he said get to me. I would get another chance to talk to her during lunch.

Rin POV:

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. I liked all of my teachers except for my Science teacher: Ms. Kawari. She never smiled and decided to give a pop quiz over everything from last year which I was sure I would fail because I wasn't here. What was it with me and girls? It seemed like we could never get along.

After third period it was time for lunch and I was starving. As I walked in with several other boys I'd met throughout the day I sat down at an empty table and they sat around me. I was normally someone that could be surrounded by seas of people and not feel a bit out of place but these boys were beginning to make me feel claustrophobic.

After I got my tray of food I sat back down. I saw Sesshomaru walk in with his friends. My mood brightened immediately. He came from behind me.

"What's up?" He asked from over my shoulder.

I looked up to see his head over mine. I blushed before looking down quickly.

"Nothing. Where have you been all day?" I asked, happy to finally have someone I _wanted_ with me.

He laughed. "I could say the same for you. You were practically lost in your crowds of fanboys."

I looked up, embarrassed again. Fanboys? What was he talking about?

"Anyways, I came over to ask if you wanna come sit with me at lunch?" He offered.

I was eager to get away from the full table and get somewhere where there's room to breath. I smiled and got up to follow him.

"Where ever Rin goes, I'm going." Haku spoke up.

I groaned inwardly. "Ummm…Could you guys stay here for lunch today? I think I wanna go eat with Sesshomaru." I told them.

From the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Sesshomaru smirk. Haku sat back down. "Fine." He said, crossing his arms like a child.

I smiled before following Sesshomaru. When I got to his table I noticed that it was almost as crowded as mine. All well.

I took a seat and sat down my tray before Sesshomaru introduced everyone to me.

"Rin, this is Kagome, Sango, Koga, Ayame, Jaken and you already know Inuyasha and Miroku." He told me, pointing to each person individually. I waved shyly before taking a bite of the greasy pizza that sat on my plate.

Me and Sesshomaru talked, continuing our conversation from the hallway. It was odd talking with several different people making out at our table. 'When do they have time to eat their lunch?' I asked myself.

I got an understanding of who were the couples at the table. Kagome was with Inuyasha, Sango was with Miroku, and Ayame was with Koga. Jaken was alone but by the looks of it, it seemed like Jaken was merely someone who tagged along with Sesshomaru. Me and Sesshomaru were talking but we were the only pair that wasn't attacking each other with our tounges at the whole table.

Looking around, seeming to feel as awkward as me with the situation, or perhaps not, Sesshomaru asked me something that I hoped would never come up.

"So when was your first kiss?" He asked with a friendly smile.

I choked on the strawberry milk I'd been drinking. Everyone at our table looked at me seeming worried, great, now I had to answer while people were staring at me. Kagome patted me on the back with a giggle. I blushed.

After I recomposed myself I looked down at my lap. "Ummm…I actually haven't had my first kiss yet." I replied.

Everyone at the table looked shocked. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping to be able to pretend that I was somewhere else where people weren't looking at me like I was insane. The well-meant laughs coming from Ayame made that harder to do that. This was my personal Hell.

Sesshomaru POV:

The idea that she hadn't even had her first kiss made her seem even more childish than I thought. The idea wasn't a bad thing, on the contrary, I actually thought it was quiet adorable that she was completely and utterly untainted.

I heard Ayame laugh at the idea. I picked my head up from Rin to glare at her, she stopped immediately. After a moment of silence Rin looked up from her lap which she had previously been staring at so intently.

"Ummm…you can all go back to kissing now." She said, possibly trying to bring the focus away from herself. I couldn't contain the laughter that was building up after she said that. Everyone else joined in as soon as they knew it was okay to laugh at her.

I patted her on her shoulder as soon as everyone went back to what they were doing. She looked up at me with innocent eyes.

"Why are you embarrassed by that, Rin? It's not a bad thing." I reassured her.

"Yes, it is." She told me. "It's embarrassing because it means I'm inexperienced. I don't know anything about that stuff."

I chuckled lightly. "So what? You can learn." I mused.

She smiled shyly. The lunch bell rang and I got out of my seat.

"Next period is Sex Ed. You can get your experience there." I told her, partially joking.

She looked at me confused. "_You_ have it next, I don't know what I have yet." She told me.

I smiled. "Yes, but I teach 8th grade Sex Ed. It's one of my extras as a Senior and you're one of my students."

Rin POV:

My face was horror stricken! 'No, anyone but him!' I pleaded to myself. I prepared for the awkwardness coming up.


	2. Chapter 2

Sesshomaru POV:

I saw her face go bleak as soon as I told her I would be her Sex Ed teacher. I understood why she felt that way. Still, I couldn't help myself from feeling smug with the irony of the situation. I would purposely make this the most embarrassing forty-five minutes of her life. Why? Well, just to see how cute her embarrassed face is, of course.

Rin POV:

I swallowed loudly as I followed beside him. No matter how easy he tried to make this for me, I knew I would come out with permanently red cheaks. And to think I would have to go through this for at least half the school year?

As we walked into the classroom it was almost full. I was surprised by that considering they were leaving lunch early merely to come to another class. I then realized, to my dismay, that almost all of the students in the room were girls. I see, Sesshomaru has fans. No surprise there.

I cleared my throat quietly before beginning to walk to the back of the room. It was bad enough to have _him_ teaching me this, I didn't want to be so close to him as he talked about it. Before I got a chance to make it past the second row of chairs Seshomaru stopped me.

"Wait Rin. Why don't you talk a seat up front. After all, you are one of the main students who needs to hear about this sort of thing, correct?" He asked, clearly not making an effort to keep quiet as he said it. I heard several of the girls in class giggle at this. I sighed internally as I sat at the seat directly off center of the front row.

I watched as a girl made an attempt to flirt with Sesshomaru.

"Hi Sesshomaru!" She said cheerfully.

He sighed, seeming exasperated with the girl already. Was he really annoyed or was that just what I wanted to believe.

"Hello Kanna. You may want to get seated before class starts." He replied professionally.

"No need to be so formal, Sesshomaru." She said with a smile playing on her lips.

"Indeed there is, actually. You see, if I weren't being formal the only other way I would choose to address you is rudely,and as a teacher I'm not supposed to do that and I'm sure you don't want me to." He said with a smug expression.

"Awww, Sesshomaru. Why are you being so mean?" She said, puffing out her lower lip.

He smiled, it didn't seem as though the smile way meant for her though.

"Because, Kanna. I don't like you. I never really did. You see, I only used you for sex and that was a mistake that I won't re-live so don't get any ideas." He said plainly.

The girl looked hurt. I had pity on her as she walked back to her desk with slightly slumped shoulders. I looked up to Sesshomaru who was sitting on his desk casually. Why would he be so cold to the girl? I wondered for a moment if Sesshomaru was a mean person. That idea went away however as soon as he smiled down at me.

After a few minutes of waiting as I watched Sesshomaru shuffle papers from the corner of my eye, the room started to fill with students who obviously weren't as excited about being in Sesshomaru's class as the girls who had purposely arrived ahead of time.

Almost as soon as what I assumed was the last student to walk in came, the bell rang. Sesshomaru went to the chalkboard and began writing.

"Hello class. I'm Sesshomaru Sensei. Those of you who wish to can just call me Sesshomaru. After all, this is the most laid back of all the classes. I mean, what's easier than learning about sex?" He asked with a light chuckle.

I blushed as most of the class filled with laughter. He made eye contact with me for half a second, I turned away before he could get a good look at the embarrassment written all over my face.

Sesshomaru POV:

I looked to Rin for a moment to see how she reacted. She turned away before I got a look at the expression in her eyes but I wasn't dense. There would be no reason for her to look away unless she was embarrassed. Already? Did her cheeks go red over merely the word _sex_? _This_ was going to be fun.

"Well Class, we're actually partially here to learn about the ideal way to have sex: Protected. How many of you have parents that offer you condemns willingly?" Sesshomaru asked.

Only one student raised his hand. I turned around it shock that even the parents of one child would allow him to have sex as long as they knew they wouldn't end up being grandparents in the process. Who was that boy?

"Bankotsu? Are you sure they give them to you willingly or do you merely sneak them and consider it the same as having them given to you?" Sesshomaru asked the boy. Bankotsu was his name.

"You know me well enough to know that my parents don't give a damn what I do, Sesshomaru." The boy said flatly before turning to look out the window as if all he wanted was to get away from the several pairs of eyes watching him. Sesshomaru knew him well? How?

Sesshomaru coughed loudly causing to class to focus their attention back on him.

"Very well then. As for the rest of you who's parents aren't as… _generous_ as Bankotsu's…" I heard Bankotsu scoff at this. I turned back to him, feeling the concern that must have been showing through my eyes. I felt bad for the boy. He needed help. A friend, perhaps.

"The school allows us to give out protection to any of the students junior high level and above. Whether you chose to take some or not is your own choice. Consider this one of the most important options of your life. Losing your virginity _will_ be one of the most important decisions of your life." Sesshomaru said as he began to walking around the room with the box of you-know-whats. Was it just me or was Sesshomaru looking at me specifically when he said that last sentence?

He offered them to me when he got to my desk with a humorous smile, knowing fully well that I wouldn't take them. I shook my head vigorously before he moved on. I turned around as I watched him move around the room, noticing who accepted them and who didn't. Very few decline.

When Sesshomaru got to Bankotsu's desk he shook his head. This surprised me.

"If you're going to do it anyways then why not take it when you're offered? You would if it was your father, apparently." Sesshomaru told him, sounding as if he was trying to mock the boy.

Obviously, Bankotsu heard the mockery in Sesshomaru's voice as well because his next action surprised all of us. Bankotsu stood up and punched Sesshomaru in his stomach with what looked like a large amount of force.

My mouth dropped open with what I was sure would be along with several other students who witnessed the hit. I watched as Sesshomaru grapped the boy by his collar and whispered something that we all heard.

"Listen kid! I'm working right now but don't think I won't hit you just cause you're young. Wait until after school and we'll finish this. Just remember while you're getting this a hundred times over that you started it." Sesshomaru said through clenched teeth.

Bankotsu's eyes were emotionless. He waited patiently for Sesshomaru to release him. When Sesshomaru let him go he put his one hand in a pocket of his baggy pants and began walking to the door. Sesshomaru ignored this as he turned back to the class taking a deep breath.

"Well then, shall we continue with the lesson?" He asked, seeming to have calmed himself.

The rest of the period went on without any distractions. The embarrassment continued as Sesshomaru continued on the process and idea of sex in general…and _not_ so in general. Were Sex Ed teachers allowed to be so specific?

Sesshomaru POV:

I worried what Rin thought of me now having seen my short confrontation with Bankotsu. I never like the kid, his past was too troubled. There was no fixing him as far as I was concered.

"Sesshomaru, did you need to finish packing up?" She asked, seeming as though what happed earlier didn't bother her much. I breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"Yeah, but would you mind waiting for me? It'll only take a second." I told her as I put my teacher's copy into my bag.

She paused. "I would, but I was actually kind of wanting to find Bankotsu. I feel really bad for him."

"Because of what I did?" I asked.

She laughed. "No, not at all. It's just that I can tell when someone needs help. He seems lonely. I'm curious."

I sighed. "Rin, he's the last person I want you hanging out with. Trust me, he's not a good influence."

She smiled sweetly. "Well, neither are you but I decided to take a chance and I'm glad I did so I want to do the same for him." She turned for the door.

I looked at her, pleading through my eyes. "Rin please. I don't want you getting hurt." I said as I took hold on her arm. Perhaps there was another reason I didn't want Rin talking to Bankotsu. It was true, he was bad. Worse than me. However, it seemed as though I feared the idea of her liking another guy more than anything.

She smiled in reassurance before turning back to the door. "Don't worry about me please, Sesshomaru, I promise I'll be fine." I released her arm hesitantly and watched her leave. I swore to myself that if Bankotsu hurt her he wouldn't even be alive after today.

Rin POV:

I smiled to myself as Sesshomaru let go of me. I didn't like having to leave him like that considering how hard he was trying to make me understand that Bankotsu was bad for me. However, if the main reason he didn't want me to go was because he was scared Bankotsu would hurt me than I knew I would only feel the need to help more. Everyone who feels the need to hurt people always has a reason. Perhaps he was hurt by someone else?

I walked into the school yard and found what I was looking for. Bankotsu was leaning against the side of the building with his back turned to me. I smelled something fowl only to realize he was smoking. I was surprised but not very much, considering what Sesshomaru had told me this boy wasn't someone to turn away anything that would seem to lead to trouble.

I tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't react much, his senses seemed to be relaxed. Perhaps I'd caught him at a good time.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, implying for me to leave just by his voice.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a little while." I said, lowering my head slightly.

"Look chick. Just 'cause you're a pretty face doesn't mean I wanna talk to you so go back to your class." He replied coldly, turning back to take another puff of his cigarette.

I looked away from his face, not allowing myself to get intimidated.

He paused for a second and looked back at me. "Wanna f*ck? …Cause that I'll do."

I froze. It took me a moment to collect my thoughts before recomposing myself. Even after doing my best to keep calm I still probably seemed to be overreacting to him. "No way! I didn't even take the condemns when they were offered."

He turned back and let out an exasperated breath. "Virgin?" he asked.

I nodded my head quickly. Before I knew what was happening I was already pinned to the wall.

"Even better." He said with a smirk. I gasped, deciding the best option was to yell for help. As I began to take in a breath to allow myself the vocals I would need my mouth was covered by his. My eyes went wide as I realized what was happening. I had just lost my first kiss and would possibly be losing my virginity very quickly if no one came back here soon.

He kissed roughly, obviously experienced in the matter. I was sure he hadn't raped a girl before though. As good looking as he was it would probably be easy to find a girl willing to have sex if you were looking for one.

He dragged his hands along my hips and began moving inward from there. I shut my eyes in fear.

Sesshomaru POV:

I decided I couldn't allow Rin to be alone with Bankotsu. I knew that she had no idea what she was getting herself into. Whether she knew it or not he wasn't the type to let a girl as cute as her slip away. Even if he had to use force, he planned on getting what he wanted. I shook at the thought of Rin being pushed into something by him.

I ran through the school building, only to find empty hallways, most likely because students were all in their classes by now. I decided to begin checking outside of the building starting with the back of the school. As I ran through the doors I looked to my right to find a fearful Rin being held forcibly to the wall by a mischievous Bankotsu with his hand reaching into her pants. What the Hell!

I growled loud enough for both of them to hear as I pounced on him. He looked to me with the same dead eyes as if all I'd done was ruin his fun. He'd taken Rin's first kiss and attempted to take her virginity. He would pay for that.

I stood over him having him on the floor within the first second as I continuously hit whatever part of him was in front of me. I didn't know if I would be able to stop had it not been for the two small arms attempting pull me back.

Rin POV:

I watched in panic as Sesshomaru hit Bankotsu, every strike only seeming to get harder.

I was relieved to have Sesshomaru come to my rescue but very scared for Bankotsu. No matter what he'd done to me I didn't want him to get hurt for it. As illogical as my thought may have seemed I still thought of him as a victim of whatever bad things had happened to him to make him like this. Perhaps, had I been raped I would be feeling differently but I wasn't so there was no need to dislike or want to punish Bankotsu for what he'd done.

I attempted to pull Sesshomaru back. I climbed onto his back seeing as that was the only way to get to him at the moment and grabbed at Sesshomaru's arms. Had he not been willing to stop I knew that I would have no control over what he did to Bankotsu but thankfully Sesshomaru's hits began slowing and growing more hesitant until he stopped altogether.

I smiled in relief and hugged Sesshomaru from the back hoping to calm him down. I looked down to see how Bankotsu was doing. He seemed to be in pretty bad shape but he was still breathing and that was what was important at the moment.

"I'm sorry, Rin. I shouldn't have let you come out here." Sesshomaru said, guilt covering his tone.

"What? No, it wouldn't be fair to blame yourself. You tried to keep me from coming out here but I wouldn't listen." I apologized back, knowing fully well that I needed to take responsibility for whatever happened. Although Bankotsu was the initiator, I had given him the opportunity.

"But if I hadn't let you come out here…" Sesshomaru began.

I shushed him and smiled peacefully. "I don't regret. Regretting is pointless. Now I know not to come out back with a stranger who I'd been warned about several time by someone who's opinion I trusted."

He smiled back. "Now that you say it like that it does kind of make you sound like the stupid one."

I laughed. "Yupp." I looked down at Bankotsu.

"We need to take you to the nurse's office, okay?" I asked with a small smile, hoping to let him know that I didn't hold a grudge.

He turned away with a grimace. "No way, I'll take care of myself."

I frowned and looked to Sesshomaru for help. Sesshomaru took the hint and looked back to Bankotsu.

"Well, Rin says she wants you in the nurse's office so that's where you're gonna go." He said, picking up Bankotsu's body and slinging him over his shoulder.

"What? No. I said I can take care of myself. Do you people need hearing aids?" He asked angrily.

I giggled. "We're kidnapping you."

Bankotsu stayed quiet as me and Sesshomaru talked among ourselves on the way to the office. When we arrived in the office it was already ten minutes after class was supposed to start, which was suspicious already, but it seemed as though the nurse was skeptical of something else.

Sesshomaru POV:

I could tell the nurse was upset about the fact that I was the one taking Bankotsu to the office. I had gotten a reputation over the years for being the best fighter in the school, however, Bankotsu was second best and could most likely only lose to me so after putting two things together I was sure she knew that I was the one who had hurt him and she obviously wasn't happy about it. She grimaced at me before smiling at Rin and directing me to lay Bankotsu on the bedspring.

I couldn't believe I was helping the guy who had almost raped the girl I currently liked. Wait…I mean was pretending to like, right? But if I didn't really like her then why did it make me so angry to find Bankotsu merely _kissing_ her. I'd never gotten jealous over my previous victims. Why her? Perhaps I did like her. Was I allowed?

I mentally slapped myself for having asked if I was allowed to like Rin. I was at liberty to like whoever I wanted… But a thirteen year old? It's okay when it's just a game but for real? That's just sick. I wanted to be at least a little mad at myself for not being able to control my own emotions but as soon as I looked up and saw Rin's innocent eyes watching me I knew that there was no way for me _not_ to like her. It was not wonder Bankotsu had forced himself on her.

Rin POV:

I watched Sesshomaru for a moment after he'd laid Bankotsu's body on the bed. I was surprised by how mad he'd gotten when he saw Bankotsu and me. Even me, being the person it'd happened to wasn't angry. Sesshomaru still seemed to be breathing heavy, seeming as though he was still adding to the fire that was already burning inside him. Did he care about me that much or would he have reacted the same had the same thing happened to another girl?

"Well, you two can go back to your classes now. I'll take care of it for now." The nurse told us politely, giving us the opportunity to leave.

"May I please stay?" I asked, still feeling like I needed to talk to Bankotsu.

"Rin, I don't think you should." Sesshomaru commented, looking worried again.

I approached Sesshomaru slowly, knowing that what I had to say wasn't something for the nurse to hear.

"It'll be okay, Sesshomaru. I know I said that the first time and I know I'm sounding really stupid right now but the nurse is in here now and I won't go anywhere with him so don't worry about me. I'd be late anyways so I might as well just skip and explain why I was absent tomorrow. I still need to talk to him." I told him, attempting to get him used to the idea.

"Fine Rin. I trust you but I swear, if he tries any of his crap on you he's not gonna get a second chance." He assured me with a weary expression.

I smiled at him before sitting back down on the chair next to the bed Bankotsu was resting on.

He didn't acknowledge my presence. He turned the other direction attempting to avoid talking to me.

I looked over him. He had several cuts around his face and a busted lip along with what could possibly be a broken jaw. His condition was less than stable but I was happy to know that all he would be needing is a nurses attention rather than a hospital tendant.

I was about to speak up but he was the first to start talking which surprised me.

"…Thanks for pulling him off me." He said, not making eye contact.

I gave him a warm smile. "You're welcome."

He paused for another moment, seeming to be collecting his thoughts before he turned to me.

"Why did you though? You had no reason to help me after what I did." He asked, looking almost ashamed.

I was surprised when he said that. Had he never met a person that wanted to help just to be nice?

"Just because someone does something bad to you, whether they meant to or not, it doesn't mean you should be mad at them. I don't know you but I don't think you're bad, just confused." I told him, trying to make things clear.

He laughed bitterly before turning away. "You're wrong about that. You're probably just one of those people that try to think that the world is a good place and everyone's life is as great as your own just so you can live life guilt free, oblivious to the really messed up lives."

What he said made me upset for some reason. Was it because he was assuming that my life was perfect when I knew that it wasn't or because he seemed to be trying to make me feel bad?

"…You know, you shouldn't assume things of people. I'm sure you aren't happy because of some unfortunate things in your life and I'm sorry for that but just because I don't seem gloomy or rebellious doesn't mean I have no reason to be. It all matters how you handle it and I think you're handling things wrong. Perhaps you should reevaluate things and make sure things are as bad as they seem before continuing the way you are." I said, seeming to stand up for myself for the first time.

He scowled at me. "What kind of problems does a kid like you have? You found out that Sesshomaru doesn't like you like you like him? You and your friend are in a fight?" He guessed.

I blushed and looked down. "I…I don't like Sesshomaru."

He turned away, seeming sick of the conversation, so I decided to continue it myself.

"It's nothing like that, you know. OISesshomaru POV:

I saw her face go bleak as soon as I told her I would be her Sex Ed teacher. I understood why she felt that way. Still, I couldn't help myself from feeling smug with the irony of the situation. I would purposely make this the most embarrassing forty-five minutes of her life. Why? Well, just to see how cute her embarrassed face is, of course.

Rin POV:

I swallowed loudly as I followed beside him. No matter how easy he tried to make this for me, I knew I would come out with permanently red cheaks. And to think I would have to go through this for at least half the school year?

As we walked into the classroom it was almost full. I was surprised by that considering they were leaving lunch early merely to come to another class. I then realized, to my dismay, that almost all of the students in the room were girls. I see, Sesshomaru has fans. No surprise there.

I cleared my throat quietly before beginning to walk to the back of the room. It was bad enough to have _him_ teaching me this, I didn't want to be so close to him as he talked about it. Before I got a chance to make it past the second row of chairs Seshomaru stopped me.

"Wait Rin. Why don't you talk a seat up front. After all, you are one of the main students who needs to hear about this sort of thing, correct?" He asked, clearly not making an effort to keep quiet as he said it. I heard several of the girls in class giggle at this. I sighed internally as I sat at the seat directly off center of the front row.

I watched as a girl made an attempt to flirt with Sesshomaru.

"Hi Sesshomaru!" She said cheerfully.

He sighed, seeming exasperated with the girl already. Was he really annoyed or was that just what I wanted to believe.

"Hello Kanna. You may want to get seated before class starts." He replied professionally.

"No need to be so formal, Sesshomaru." She said with a smile playing on her lips.

"Indeed there is, actually. You see, if I weren't being formal the only other way I would choose to address you is rudely,and as a teacher I'm not supposed to do that and I'm sure you don't want me to." He said with a smug expression.

"Awww, Sesshomaru. Why are you being so mean?" She said, puffing out her lower lip.

He smiled, it didn't seem as though the smile way meant for her though.

"Because, Kanna. I don't like you. I never really did. You see, I only used you for sex and that was a mistake that I won't re-live so don't get any ideas." He said plainly.

The girl looked hurt. I had pity on her as she walked back to her desk with slightly slumped shoulders. I looked up to Sesshomaru who was sitting on his desk casually. Why would he be so cold to the girl? I wondered for a moment if Sesshomaru was a mean person. That idea went away however as soon as he smiled down at me.

After a few minutes of waiting as I watched Sesshomaru shuffle papers from the corner of my eye, the room started to fill with students who obviously weren't as excited about being in Sesshomaru's class as the girls who had purposely arrived ahead of time.

Almost as soon as what I assumed was the last student to walk in came, the bell rang. Sesshomaru went to the chalkboard and began writing.

"Hello class. I'm Sesshomaru Sensei. Those of you who wish to can just call me Sesshomaru. After all, this is the most laid back of all the classes. I mean, what's easier than learning about sex?" He asked with a light chuckle.

I blushed as most of the class filled with laughter. He made eye contact with me for half a second, I turned away before he could get a good look at the embarrassment written all over my face.

Sesshomaru POV:

I looked to Rin for a moment to see how she reacted. She turned away before I got a look at the expression in her eyes but I wasn't dense. There would be no reason for her to look away unless she was embarrassed. Already? Did her cheeks go red over merely the word _sex_? _This_ was going to be fun.

"Well Class, we're actually partially here to learn about the ideal way to have sex: Protected. How many of you have parents that offer you condemns willingly?" Sesshomaru asked.

Only one student raised his hand. I turned around it shock that even the parents of one child would allow him to have sex as long as they knew they wouldn't end up being grandparents in the process. Who was that boy?

"Bankotsu? Are you sure they give them to you willingly or do you merely sneak them and consider it the same as having them given to you?" Sesshomaru asked the boy. Bankotsu was his name.

"You know me well enough to know that my parents don't give a damn what I do, Sesshomaru." The boy said flatly before turning to look out the window as if all he wanted was to get away from the several pairs of eyes watching him. Sesshomaru knew him well? How?

Sesshomaru coughed loudly causing to class to focus their attention back on him.

"Very well then. As for the rest of you who's parents aren't as… _generous_ as Bankotsu's…" I heard Bankotsu scoff at this. I turned back to him, feeling the concern that must have been showing through my eyes. I felt bad for the boy. He needed help. A friend, perhaps.

"The school allows us to give out protection to any of the students junior high level and above. Whether you chose to take some or not is your own choice. Consider this one of the most important options of your life. Losing your virginity _will_ be one of the most important decisions of your life." Sesshomaru said as he began to walking around the room with the box of you-know-whats. Was it just me or was Sesshomaru looking at me specifically when he said that last sentence?

He offered them to me when he got to my desk with a humorous smile, knowing fully well that I wouldn't take them. I shook my head vigorously before he moved on. I turned around as I watched him move around the room, noticing who accepted them and who didn't. Very few decline.

When Sesshomaru got to Bankotsu's desk he shook his head. This surprised me.

"If you're going to do it anyways then why not take it when you're offered? You would if it was your father, apparently." Sesshomaru told him, sounding as if he was trying to mock the boy.

Obviously, Bankotsu heard the mockery in Sesshomaru's voice as well because his next action surprised all of us. Bankotsu stood up and punched Sesshomaru in his stomach with what looked like a large amount of force.

My mouth dropped open with what I was sure would be along with several other students who witnessed the hit. I watched as Sesshomaru grapped the boy by his collar and whispered something that we all heard.

"Listen kid! I'm working right now but don't think I won't hit you just cause you're young. Wait until after school and we'll finish this. Just remember while you're getting this a hundred times over that you started it." Sesshomaru said through clenched teeth.

Bankotsu's eyes were emotionless. He waited patiently for Sesshomaru to release him. When Sesshomaru let him go he put his one hand in a pocket of his baggy pants and began walking to the door. Sesshomaru ignored this as he turned back to the class taking a deep breath.

"Well then, shall we continue with the lesson?" He asked, seeming to have calmed himself.

The rest of the period went on without any distractions. The embarrassment continued as Sesshomaru continued on the process and idea of sex in general…and _not_ so in general. Were Sex Ed teachers allowed to be so specific?

Sesshomaru POV:

I worried what Rin thought of me now having seen my short confrontation with Bankotsu. I never like the kid, his past was too troubled. There was no fixing him as far as I was concered.

"Sesshomaru, did you need to finish packing up?" She asked, seeming as though what happed earlier didn't bother her much. I breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"Yeah, but would you mind waiting for me? It'll only take a second." I told her as I put my teacher's copy into my bag.

She paused. "I would, but I was actually kind of wanting to find Bankotsu. I feel really bad for him."

"Because of what I did?" I asked.

She laughed. "No, not at all. It's just that I can tell when someone needs help. He seems lonely. I'm curious."

I sighed. "Rin, he's the last person I want you hanging out with. Trust me, he's not a good influence."

She smiled sweetly. "Well, neither are you but I decided to take a chance and I'm glad I did so I want to do the same for him." She turned for the door.

I looked at her, pleading through my eyes. "Rin please. I don't want you getting hurt." I said as I took hold on her arm. Perhaps there was another reason I didn't want Rin talking to Bankotsu. It was true, he was bad. Worse than me. However, it seemed as though I feared the idea of her liking another guy more than anything.

She smiled in reassurance before turning back to the door. "Don't worry about me please, Sesshomaru, I promise I'll be fine." I released her arm hesitantly and watched her leave. I swore to myself that if Bankotsu hurt her he wouldn't even be alive after today.

Rin POV:

I smiled to myself as Sesshomaru let go of me. I didn't like having to leave him like that considering how hard he was trying to make me understand that Bankotsu was bad for me. However, if the main reason he didn't want me to go was because he was scared Bankotsu would hurt me than I knew I would only feel the need to help more. Everyone who feels the need to hurt people always has a reason. Perhaps he was hurt by someone else?

I walked into the school yard and found what I was looking for. Bankotsu was leaning against the side of the building with his back turned to me. I smelled something fowl only to realize he was smoking. I was surprised but not very much, considering what Sesshomaru had told me this boy wasn't someone to turn away anything that would seem to lead to trouble.

I tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't react much, his senses seemed to be relaxed. Perhaps I'd caught him at a good time.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, implying for me to leave just by his voice.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a little while." I said, lowering my head slightly.

"Look chick. Just 'cause you're a pretty face doesn't mean I wanna talk to you so go back to your class." He replied coldly, turning back to take another puff of his cigarette.

I looked away from his face, not allowing myself to get intimidated.

He paused for a second and looked back at me. "Wanna f*ck? …Cause that I'll do."

I froze. It took me a moment to collect my thoughts before recomposing myself. Even after doing my best to keep calm I still probably seemed to be overreacting to him. "No way! I didn't even take the condemns when they were offered."

He turned back and let out an exasperated breath. "Virgin?" he asked.

I nodded my head quickly. Before I knew what was happening I was already pinned to the wall.

"Even better." He said with a smirk. I gasped, deciding the best option was to yell for help. As I began to take in a breath to allow myself the vocals I would need my mouth was covered by his. My eyes went wide as I realized what was happening. I had just lost my first kiss and would possibly be losing my virginity very quickly if no one came back here soon.

He kissed roughly, obviously experienced in the matter. I was sure he hadn't raped a girl before though. As good looking as he was it would probably be easy to find a girl willing to have sex if you were looking for one.

He dragged his hands along my hips and began moving inward from there. I shut my eyes in fear.

Sesshomaru POV:

I decided I couldn't allow Rin to be alone with Bankotsu. I knew that she had no idea what she was getting herself into. Whether she knew it or not he wasn't the type to let a girl as cute as her slip away. Even if he had to use force, he planned on getting what he wanted. I shook at the thought of Rin being pushed into something by him.

I ran through the school building, only to find empty hallways, most likely because students were all in their classes by now. I decided to begin checking outside of the building starting with the back of the school. As I ran through the doors I looked to my right to find a fearful Rin being held forcibly to the wall by a mischievous Bankotsu with his hand reaching into her pants. What the Hell!

I growled loud enough for both of them to hear as I pounced on him. He looked to me with the same dead eyes as if all I'd done was ruin his fun. He'd taken Rin's first kiss and attempted to take her virginity. He would pay for that.

I stood over him having him on the floor within the first second as I continuously hit whatever part of him was in front of me. I didn't know if I would be able to stop had it not been for the two small arms attempting pull me back.

Rin POV:

I watched in panic as Sesshomaru hit Bankotsu, every strike only seeming to get harder.

I was relieved to have Sesshomaru come to my rescue but very scared for Bankotsu. No matter what he'd done to me I didn't want him to get hurt for it. As illogical as my thought may have seemed I still thought of him as a victim of whatever bad things had happened to him to make him like this. Perhaps, had I been raped I would be feeling differently but I wasn't so there was no need to dislike or want to punish Bankotsu for what he'd done.

I attempted to pull Sesshomaru back. I climbed onto his back seeing as that was the only way to get to him at the moment and grabbed at Sesshomaru's arms. Had he not been willing to stop I knew that I would have no control over what he did to Bankotsu but thankfully Sesshomaru's hits began slowing and growing more hesitant until he stopped altogether.

I smiled in relief and hugged Sesshomaru from the back hoping to calm him down. I looked down to see how Bankotsu was doing. He seemed to be in pretty bad shape but he was still breathing and that was what was important at the moment.

"I'm sorry, Rin. I shouldn't have let you come out here." Sesshomaru said, guilt covering his tone.

"What? No, it wouldn't be fair to blame yourself. You tried to keep me from coming out here but I wouldn't listen." I apologized back, knowing fully well that I needed to take responsibility for whatever happened. Although Bankotsu was the initiator, I had given him the opportunity.

"But if I hadn't let you come out here…" Sesshomaru began.

I shushed him and smiled peacefully. "I don't regret. Regretting is pointless. Now I know not to come out back with a stranger who I'd been warned about several time by someone who's opinion I trusted."

He smiled back. "Now that you say it like that it does kind of make you sound like the stupid one."

I laughed. "Yupp." I looked down at Bankotsu.

"We need to take you to the nurse's office, okay?" I asked with a small smile, hoping to let him know that I didn't hold a grudge.

He turned away with a grimace. "No way, I'll take care of myself."

I frowned and looked to Sesshomaru for help. Sesshomaru took the hint and looked back to Bankotsu.

"Well, Rin says she wants you in the nurse's office so that's where you're gonna go." He said, picking up Bankotsu's body and slinging him over his shoulder.

"What? No. I said I can take care of myself. Do you people need hearing aids?" He asked angrily.

I giggled. "We're kidnapping you."

Bankotsu stayed quiet as me and Sesshomaru talked among ourselves on the way to the office. When we arrived in the office it was already ten minutes after class was supposed to start, which was suspicious already, but it seemed as though the nurse was skeptical of something else.

Sesshomaru POV:

I could tell the nurse was upset about the fact that I was the one taking Bankotsu to the office. I had gotten a reputation over the years for being the best fighter in the school, however, Bankotsu was second best and could most likely only lose to me so after putting two things together I was sure she knew that I was the one who had hurt him and she obviously wasn't happy about it. She grimaced at me before smiling at Rin and directing me to lay Bankotsu on the bedspring.

I couldn't believe I was helping the guy who had almost raped the girl I currently liked. Wait…I mean was pretending to like, right? But if I didn't really like her then why did it make me so angry to find Bankotsu merely _kissing_ her. I'd never gotten jealous over my previous victims. Why her? Perhaps I did like her. Was I allowed?

I mentally slapped myself for having asked if I was allowed to like Rin. I was at liberty to like whoever I wanted… But a thirteen year old? It's okay when it's just a game but for real? That's just sick. I wanted to be at least a little mad at myself for not being able to control my own emotions but as soon as I looked up and saw Rin's innocent eyes watching me I knew that there was no way for me _not_ to like her. It was not wonder Bankotsu had forced himself on her.

Rin POV:

I watched Sesshomaru for a moment after he'd laid Bankotsu's body on the bed. I was surprised by how mad he'd gotten when he saw Bankotsu and me. Even me, being the person it'd happened to wasn't angry. Sesshomaru still seemed to be breathing heavy, seeming as though he was still adding to the fire that was already burning inside him. Did he care about me that much or would he have reacted the same had the same thing happened to another girl?

"Well, you two can go back to your classes now. I'll take care of it for now." The nurse told us politely, giving us the opportunity to leave.

"May I please stay?" I asked, still feeling like I needed to talk to Bankotsu.

"Rin, I don't think you should." Sesshomaru commented, looking worried again.

I approached Sesshomaru slowly, knowing that what I had to say wasn't something for the nurse to hear.

"It'll be okay, Sesshomaru. I know I said that the first time and I know I'm sounding really stupid right now but the nurse is in here now and I won't go anywhere with him so don't worry about me. I'd be late anyways so I might as well just skip and explain why I was absent tomorrow. I still need to talk to him." I told him, attempting to get him used to the idea.

"Fine Rin. I trust you but I swear, if he tries any of his crap on you he's not gonna get a second chance." He assured me with a weary expression.

I smiled at him before sitting back down on the chair next to the bed Bankotsu was resting on

He turned away, obviously wanting to avoid looking me in the eyes.

He didn't want to talk, so I decided to start. As I opened my mouth to speak, he started.

"…Thanks for pulling him off of me." He said, looking to the end of the bed instead of at me.

I smiled warmly before replying. "You're welcome."

"…Why'd you do it though? You had no reason to want to help me after what I'd done." He asked.

His question confused me. Had he never met anyone who wanted to help him just to be nice?

"Don't you know? Just because someone does someone to you, intentional or not, it doesn't mean you should take it out on them. I'm not mad at you, if I was it would only be a bad thing for me because there's no point in being mad when the only one who you're hurting is yourself. I don't think you're bad, just confused." I told him, hoping to make things as clear as possible.

He grimaced and turned away before he spoke his next words.

"Huh, you obviously don't know me at all. I know I'm a bad kid but it's not like I don't got an excuse. Let me guess, you're one of those people who try to make the world seem like a happy place just so you won't have to feel guilty about all the people in the world with sucky lives?" He inquired.

Why did what he said get me upset? Was it because I knew that my life wasn't as easy as he tried to make it seem or was it because I knew that he was trying to bring me down?

"You know, my life isn't as simple as you think. I have problems just like yours, I just deal with them differently." I told him.

He laughed bitterly. "Sure. What kind of problems does a kid like you got? You break up with your boyfriend? You and your friend get into a fight? Your dog die?"

"No, I wish it was that easy. You shouldn't assume things of people when you know nothing about them." I told him, defending myself for the first time. "My Dad died less than a year ago along with my big brother shortly before him who I considered the only person I could come to for comfort. Combine that with the fact that my relationship with my Mother is slowly turning to ashes because she chooses to forever mourn the loss of my Dad which on reminds me of him and no matter how hard I try to repress the bad in my life it always comes back to me and I occasionally begin to cry for reasons I'm unsure of and you've got my life."

He seemed to be letting what I'd just said soak in before the shock on his face showed through. I gave half a smile.

"Just because I appear happy doesn't mean everything else in my life is." I assured him.

He looked down. "… Sorry. But do you honestly think your way of dealing with things is healthier? Waiting until things build up and starting crying for no reason?"

I laughed. "Are we talking about healthier or smarter? Because if health is the case then I agree, your way of dealing with things is healthier but you have to admit it gets you into more trouble than you're eventually going to be able to afford. Plus, I wouldn't want to hurt the people around me by making them worry." I explained.

He turned to look me in the eyes for the first time. "At least you have people who worry about you. My Dad's an abusive drunk who can't put down a beer for two seconds unless it's to hurt someone and my Mom only cares about herself. I know for a fact that if she could she would leave him along with me who she considers to be her 'mess of a son' if she wasn't too scared that he would track her down." He told me.

I nodded, taking in the idea of having a Dad alive but one who acted as though he hated me and a Mom who didn't care if I lived or died. I could see why he was the way he was.

"Any siblings?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I wish, then I might not have to deal with this alone."

I smiled. "You don't have to."

He looked up at me and back down. "I don't know if you'd wanna take both our loads. You're already on the verge of breaking."

"How do you know?" I inquired with a teasing smile.

"You're too strong." He explained. "If you were this happy with a descent life I would understand or if you acted like me but had your life I would understand but you're to cheery for it to be real. You're obviously just trying to stay strong for the people around you."

I understood what he meant and perhaps he was right. I did often feel as though I wouldn't be able to hold on much longer but I always bounced back somehow.

"Even so, you seem to need more help than I do. Even if I am hurting so are you, even if you cover it with your cold attitude to others you need help so for now let's just use each other for a shoulder to lean on. Sound good?" I asked him with a smile.

He seemed surprised by my offer but nodded his head and smiled at me for the first time.

"Sex buddies?" He teased.

"No way!" I replied with a laugh.

We talked for the remaining time until the bell rang. I knew that I'd done exactly what I'd hoped to when I'd set out to find him. I was going to help him.

Bankotsu's POV:

Rin and I talked until she had to go back to class. I offered for her to stay but the nurse said she had to go back to class. Damn nurse!

As soon as she left though I realized that I didn't just like her body. I liked her as a person. I liked how strong she was and how she attempted to help me and chose to give me another chance knowing I didn't deserve one. I _liked_ Rin. That was a new emotion that I never thought I would feel.

Sesshomaru POV: I looked for Rin when I got out of my class. I headed to the nurse's office. When I got there Bankotsu was alone. I glared at him.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"Left a couple minutes ago. Why? Jealous?" He asked with a smirk.

I turned away, not feeling the need to answer his question, and begin to look through the halls. I found Rin in the 8th grade Science hallway.

"Sesshomaru. Guess what happened?" She asked with a grin.

I guessed that whatever she had to say would be about Bankotsu and decided that I didn't want to hear it. I turned around before she stopped me.

"Sesshomaru? What's wrong?" She asked, looking worried.

"Nothing. I just don't like that kid." I replied, not looking her in the eyes.

She looked down for a moment then back up at me. "He's not bad. I know that you think you know him and you probably do, but you became acquainted with the bad side of him. Look a little harder and you'll find out that he's actually pretty cool." She told me with cheer.

I grimaced. Now they were _friends_? Great! "I prefer not to look any deeper." I replied simply before beginning to walk again.

She ran in front of me and put her hands on my chest in an attempt to slow me down. I noticed her looking surprised when she felt the muscle that sat under my shirt. I smirked to myself.

"Fine. If you don't want to get to know the good side of Bankotsu than I'll just keep the two of you separated. I don't want to make you upset." She said with a smile.

I nodded my head in approval, only to see her face light up knowing that I was no longer upset.

"Wanna go to class then?" She asked brightly.

"Sure. I have Spanish next but I'll walk you." I told her as we began walking in the direction she was originally heading.

I wasn't happy with the idea of her being friends with Bankotsu. Let alone hanging out with him. Especially knowing that she wasn't into him the same way he was into her. However, she wasn't mine to claim so I would have to get her to like me better. By the time she was my girlfriend perhaps then I could convince her to abandon the idea of 'fixing' Bankotsu. Until then I would just have to learn to share her. However, I wasn't sure if I would want to give her up after the month was up. Perhaps she would be different. I should have known what I was getting myself into when I made this plan. Of course she would be different than all of the past girls I'd done this to. Rin was different in many ways and she definitely wouldn't be the same now.

Rin POV:

Sesshomaru and I arrived at the door of my classroom. I smiled my goodbye as he set off for his own class. I wasn't so dense as not to know that I liked Sesshomaru. Bankotsu was more of a friend for me than anything else. Whatever the outcome may be I was glad to know that I would get to stay friends with both of them. Bankotsu still needed help and I still wanted to keep Sesshomaru.


	3. Chapter 3

Rin POV:

Science class went by relatively fast. Kanna was there, she glanced at me a few times and I returned the treatment. I had no idea what she was thinking but I supposed she'd been thinking about me so I hoped that perhaps she was reconsidering our friendship.

When the bell rang, Kanna came to stand by my desk. I looked up from my backpack to smile at her. She gave a half hearted smile back before she began to give her reason for being there.

"Rin…I'm…Ummm…Sorry about what I said earlier. I guess I shouldn't of been telling you who you should and shouldn't hang out with. I still know that Sesshomaru's not good for you but if he's what you want then I'll have for you to understand why I don't like him and regret it as much as I do." She told me calmy, saying every word with caution.

I stood up slowly and looked her in the eyes. She seemed to have good intentions. Maybe Kanna did only want what was best for me. Either way, I chose fun over keeping my feeling unharmed any day. I pulled Kanna into a huge hug. It took her a moment to understand that I was showing happiness rather than trying to crush her but when she realized it she hugged back.

"Thank you so much, Kanna! I know it's not really fair to ask you to wait for me to come to my senses but could you just wait a little longer?" I asked, pulling away after a few seconds.

She smiled. "Of course. If I could go through it then you can too, I would really prefer you don't but it's your choice. I'm just glad I didn't have to give you up just because Sesshomaru wanted you."

I laughed. "Me too. You're the only girl friend I actually have. Oh, which reminds me! Guess who I'm friends with now."

She looked at me for a moment, narrowing down several options in her head before giving up. "Who?"

"Bankotsu. I'm glad we're friends 'cause I really wanna help him and he doesn't have many friends." I told her excitedly.

Her face went blank before she seemed to shake an idea out of her head. "Rin, Rin, Rin. You can never stay out of trouble, can you?" She joked.

I smiled. "I still don't think either of them are bad…Although Bankotsu almost raped me…" I said, looking away from her for a moment to avoid her reaction.

"What! That's impossible!" She said, pulling my face back to her.

"Why do you think it's impossible?" I asked, wondering what the issue was with the truth.

"Because Bankotsu's never tried anything with a girl younger than him. He hates younger girls. He only likes 2 years and more age difference." She told me, sounding confused.

"Then why did he try to with me?" I asked, looking at her quizzically.

"I don't know. The only thing I can think of is that he either wanted to make Sesshomaru mad or he really liked you...Or your body." She told me, looking me over quickly. I blushed at the thought.

"I doubt he liked me. He was probably just trying to mess with Sesshomaru. I don't know why that would make Sesshomaru mad though but if he knew it would for some reason that explains a lot more than the thought of him liking _me_." I told her, looking down.

She laughed. "I doubt it. I don't know, Rin. You just kind of have a certain ora about you. It's kind of weird, almost like it's drawing all the guys to you."

I laughed back. "As if. I don't have any guys after me." I retorted.

She looked at me with a dumb founded expression. "You're joking, right? Pretty much every guy you've come across today is after you now."

"No, no, no. Those are just friends." I corrected, laughing at her confusion. Or was it me that was confused?

She smiled teasingly as we decided to begin our walk to class. "Rin, how many 'guy friends' do you think you have?" She asked.

I thought for a moment. "I don't know. A lot. You're the only friend I have that's actually a girl."

She gave a playful laugh before continuing. "And you really think all of them only want to be friends? Trust me Rin, every guy you've become 'friends' with today likes you as more than a friend." She explained.

I frowned and looked at the floor in dismay. "So you're saying you're my only real friend? That everyone else doesn't like me as a person, just as a girl?" I asked.

I saw a flash of regret come over her face before she attempted to correct herself. "No Rin! I'm not saying that they don't wanna be your friend, I'm just saying that they might wanna take things another step if you're willing to." She explained.

My cheeks heated up. I smiled. "So do you mean that Sesshomaru likes me as more than a friend?"

She grimaced and looking into my eyes. "Unfortunatly."

I giggled. "Ohhh. Okayyyy." I said before deciding my next actions. "Sorry Kanna, I wanna walk to class with you but I've gotta find Sesshomaru first to tell him what I know." I began to skip off but not before I heard her next words.

"Okay, be careful." She mumbled from behind me. I turned back and smiled at her.

"Always am." I replied enthusiastically.

Sesshomaru POV:

While in class I took some time to think about Rin. By now it was obvious to me that I liked her, however, I knew that I would have to at least _pretend_ to be sticking to the plan for the sake of my reputation.

When I got out of class the guys and me started talking in the halls, waiting a couple minutes before heading to our next class.

"How are things going with Rin? Does she like you already?" Miroku asked.

I turned away. "I'm honestly not sure yet."

Both boys looked at me in curiosity before turning to eachother.

"Does she like somebody else?" Inuyasha asked.

"Maybe. She started hanging out with _Bankotsu_." I replied, allowing the name to burn on my tongue for a moment.

They both looked worried for a moment. "Are you joking? He's the worst! I don't even know the chick well and I'm even scared for her. She might not even be here at the end of the month to confess her love to you and finish the bet." Miroku said.

I nodded, flinching at the memory from a mere few hours ago when I had only thought of Rin as another naïve victim. I decided to tell them about my new outlook on Rin instead of keeping them in the dark.

"Look guys…About the bet…" I began. Before I had a chance to continue, I saw Rin come out from behind the corner, seeing pain written across her face. I realized then that she'd heard our conversation.

"It's…It's a lie, right? The Sesshomaru I know, why would he want to do something like this?" She asked, hesitantly.

I was quiet for a moment as she began to spoke her next words, her question being answered by my awkward silence.

"…So it was true…Kanna was telling the truth…" She said, looking down now, seeming as though she would allow herself to look me in the eye.

I shook my head in dismay at the reality of the situation. Of all the girls to find out about the bet before it was finished it had to be _her_. Before I had a chance to explain myself, I saw Rin take off in the other direction.

I looked back at the guys who seemed to upset about being revealed as spectators of the bet without telling her.

I looked in the direction she'd run in, wondering whether or not to chase her or if I should give her time. Before I had time to examine the first option, the warning bell rang and the guys began to walk in the direction for Logic, not sure if I would follow or not. I walked behind them with my head glued to the floor in shame. It was going to be a long day before I got a chance to talk to Rin.

Rin POV:

I couldn't believe what had just happened. I was positive that Kanna's opinion of Sesshomaru was an exaggeration, there was no way he would be so cruel…or so I thought. Why did I allow myself to trust him so much when I'd only known him for a day? I knew better than to give myself false hope, right?

I decided not to go to class. We only had one more period left today and I really wasn't in the mood to deal with trying to learn at a time like this. Skipping two classes on the first day of school? What a way to start the year.

I decided to go find Bankotsu, knowing he probably wasn't in class right now. On my way to the nurse's office several question came to mind. Why would Sesshomaru want to do this? Is this what he meant when he warned me not to hang out with him? Why did this hurt so much knowing that I'd been expecting it.

The last question wavered in my head for longer than I would have liked. It wasn't as though I knew Sesshomaru well enough to care so much that he didn't care about me even a little. He was only pretending to care about me. When he'd gotten mad and hurt Bankotsu because of me it was just a façade. He didn't even care what Bankotsu did to me. I felt my blood boil slightly at the thought that Sesshomaru had hurt Bankotsu, who actually did care about me, merely to make himself look better so he could continue with his little game.

When I arrived at the door to the nurse's office I realized that the nurse would question why I wasn't in class and I would have to make an excuse. I decided to tell her that I needed Aspirin. I probably would knowing that crying gives me a headache.

When I walked in, I saw that the only one in the room was Bankotsu. He looked up at me with confusion.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked, trying not to sound inhospitable.

I put my head down. "Sesshomaru…" I began, trying to find my words that had been hiding in the back of my throat until now.

He sighed. "Already? I'm sorry, I should have warned you."

I made an attempt to smile before giving up. "It's okay. I might not have even believed you. I don't know why but I put too much faith into him. Honestly though, I'm really glad I have you right now." I told him, walking next to the bed he was laying in. I sat on the edge of it as he sat up to look at me.

"Well let me warn you, I'm not much better than Sesshomaru. I'm only worse than him in almost every way. I'm practically useless." He cofessed, looking down as if ashamed.

His pained expression made me want to cry. What did he think of himself? I cupped his face as I picked up his head and looked him in the eyes. "Don't say that. No human is useless. As long as I'm your friend I want you to remember that."

He gave a half smile before his expression turned from sad to mischievous. He pulled my face gently toward his as he leaned in. It took me a moment to realize what was happening before I gave in. Bankotsu was a good friend, if what he wanted was to be more than that it was fine with me.

Bankotsu POV:

Her expression at the moment seemed kind of lost. I wanted to laugh at the situation at hand. I'd never kissed _any_ girl gently. All of my kisses had only been lust filled before now, this had something more.

She gave into me as she let her senses take over. I smiled into the kiss as it became more passionate. I began leaning over her, she didn't object. However, I couldn't help but feel as though I would be taking advantage of her if I tried anything right now. I'd never felt guilty before for trying to get a girl into bed, then again, I'd never had sex with a girl who was so obviously a virgin. I'd also never actually liked anyone as more than a one night stand before now. Rin was _actually_ succeeding in fixing me.

Rin didn't object to the new position, however, my conscience did. I crawled off from on top of her. She looked at me with confusion. I laughed.

"Sorry. I just think if I'm gonna do anything with you it should be at a time when you're not so vulnerable. It'd kinda make me feel like a jack ass to take advantage of you like that." I explained as I looked down at the bed I was sitting in.

Rin giggled. I looked up to see her smiling at me. "See, that's how I know you're changing. That was your test and you passed."

I understood and began to laugh with her. "How'd you know I would stop?" I asked.

She stopped laughing. "I didn't, but I hoped and I trust you."

I chuckled. "You'd think Sesshomaru would have taught you a lesson about trusting people so soon."

Her expression went flat, obviously having remembered the very thing she'd come in hoping to forget.

"…I'm sorry…" I said, regretting what I'd said immediately.

She gave a half smile before we both looked to the door to see the nurse come in.

"What are you doing in here? Bankotsu's the only one who should be here right now." She began, looking at Rin accusingly.

Rin began stuttering until I decided of an easier way to get her out of here. I grabbed her hand and ran straight past the stunned nurse. I had no idea whether she would be following us but I didn't care. I chuckled to myself at her reaction as me and Rin began dashing through the halls.

"Where are we going?" She asked, laughing as uncontrollably as me.

"Anywhere!" I replied, pulling her through the back entrance.

We both looked around then looked to each other. She smiled brightly before turning to see a pile of huge leaved that I assumed someone had just raked.

Rin POV:

Bankotsu was doing a great job of making me feel better about Sesshomaru. Though it wasn't his job to fix me, I appreciated it.

I saw a large heap of leaved sitting under an oak tree. I grinned at Bankotsu mischievously before we both took off toward the pile.

As we jumped in the leaves scattered in several different places. Call us childish? Absolutely. However, it was fun and totally worth the embarrassment and possible spider bites.

We sat in the dismembered pile for a few moments before looking toward eachother. Bankotsu's expression was the exact opposite of how I'd seen him when we first met: From hard and cold to open and childlike. I smiled to myself at the idea that Bankotsu was actually happy, even if only for the moment.

After a while we began asking each other irrelevant questions which soon turned into a game of 20 questions. The time flew by and soon there was none of it. We both heard the bell ring from outside knowing that meant school was over. Bankotsu got up and offered a hand to help me up. I accepted with a smile and got up to dust myself off.

We went back inside to retrieve our backpacks. When I got to my locker I saw Kanna standing beside it.

"Where were you during History?" She asked.

I smiled. "Sorry. I was with Bankotsu." I said, directing her attention to him.

She seemed surprised but nodded in understanding. "What about Sesshomaru?"

I looked down in dismay at the reminder. "You were right about him." I replied.

Comprehension flashed across her face before she pulled me into a friendly hug. "I'm sorry, Rin."

When we pulled away from the hug I smiled at her. "But you were wrong about one thing." I told her.

She looked at me in curiousity. "What?"

"I don't regret it. Even if I'm sad I'm still glad that I gave him a chance to prove that he was better than what you said he would be." I explained.

She looked at me disbelief before laughing it off. "Alright. Well I gotta go catch the bus home so I'll see you tomarrow. Bye Rin!" She said, waving enthusiastically as she starting walking to the doors. I waved back before turning back to Bankotsu.

He was glaring. I wondered for a moment if it was me he was mad at before I noticed he was looking past me. I turned around to see who I'd hoped to be able to avoid: Sesshomaru.

He looked as though he had something he needed to say so I waited for a moment as he approached me. I couldn't look him in the eyes, however. I stared at my feet as I did when I had first met him. He seemed hurt by this. Even knowing what he'd done to me, I wasn't someone who could walk away from a pained expression. I braced myself for whatever excuse or insult he would throw at me with Bankotsu standing by my side.

Sesshomaru POV:

She acted as though I was a stranger. The idea pained me more than I would have hoped. She was one of the few people I didn't regret becoming friends with and she acted as though we were hardly even acquaintances.

"Rin, _please_ give me a minute to explain." I begged her solemnly.

She paused for a moment before nodding. I sighed in relief before diving into my explanation.

"Okay, look. I know from what you saw it made me look like a bad guy, and I am. At least I was. I was honestly going to stop the plan altogether and let you know that I really do like you, it wasn't just a show. Perhaps it was at first, you were the ideal type I used as victims. However, when I got to know you better, I realized you're so different than any other girl I've ever known. I want you to believe me because you're the first girl that I've actually cared about as…anything." I explained, knowing that my words, rehearsed as they were, still probably weren't enough to convince her of anything. However, her next words surprised me.

"…Okay." She said, calmly, looking back up at me.

My eyes widened. "…O…Okay?" I asked.

"Okay, I believe you. I'd rather let myself be led into a trap than not believe you when you could be telling the truth. What kind of person would I be if I always assumed the worst in people?" She said with a small smile.

I couldn't believe how easy that was. My apology, as sincere as it was, was only words. I really did mean what I'd said, but what if I'd been lying. Her lack of doubt in anyone she felt as though she could have the slightest bit of trust in worried me once more. I let it slide this time though, knowing that this time the person she believed did deserve, or at least wanted, her trust.

Bankotsu seemed disappointed by her premature trust in me. I understood why he felt that why but I could say the same about him. He'd practically raped her and now she was turning to him for comfort and advice. He didn't speak up though, seeing that she was pleased and not wanting to disturb her happiness. After all, it was clear to me that he actually _did_ care about her.

Bankotsu POV:

The idea phased me that she was actually taking back this bastard. Did she honestly believe him? Her ignorance was bliss, it allowed her to trust people such as me and Sesshomaru much to easily. However, had she not had the innocence to trust Sesshomaru, she wouldn't have trusted me, and if that would have happened I would have been feeling just as messed up as ever, so I decided to allow her to believe in Sesshomaru. If he ended up breaking her heart again, which I prayed to God her didn't, then she would merely come back to me for comfort.

Sesshomaru's expression brightened at Rin's reply, until he saw someone neither of us could stand: Naraku.

Rin POV:

I was relieved to have things smoothed over with Sesshomaru. As unsure as I was of him, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and allow him time to prove himself. As I looked up at Sesshomaru's eyes, I saw Naraku coming from the side. Hadn't he gone home with Kanna?

"Don't believe him, Rin. He's lying. He just wants to make some money off of his bet. I bet you in a month he'll have you admitting your love for him and he'll dump you just like he did to my little sister. You're no different from any of his past victims aside from the fact that you found out before everything was intentionally revealed to you." He told me, sounding agitated. How did this situation concern him?

I was suddenly confused by all of the different ideas being thrown at me. Sesshomaru made me feel safe again, however, Naraku caused me to feel just as unsure of him as before. I looked back and forth between Sesshomaru and Naraku, attempting to make a decision on the matter. Ideas were clouding my mind as I contemplated the situation.

"Rin, don't listen to him. He's just mad because he was part of the bet I made. He doesn't want you to trust me again because he doesn't want to lose. You're just money in his eyes." Sesshomaru tried to reassure me.

I grimaced, upset by the fact that I was still having to deal with the drama of a situation that I wanted to move away from by merely trusting Sesshomaru. However, everyone seemed to be pointing to the idea of him being a liar.

I closed my eyes in thought as Naraku began to talk to me again.

"He's lying, Rin. I'm not even part of a bet. I don't screw with girl's hearts like he does." He assured me.

My hands tightened into fist at my frustration toward the situation. I heard babbling coming from both Sesshomaru and Naraku for the next few seconds as they both continued to get louder until I heard one statement that stuck out to me specifically.

"Do you really want to lose someone important to you again!" Naraku screamed. My eyes widened in shock at the boldness of his statement and the painful memories he brought back.

"Except this time it wouldn't be because he had no choice, it would be because he wants to break your heart for the mere purpose of watching you fall apart like any messed up dirt bag!" He yelled, his words sinking in like a rock.

Everyone went quiet. Everyone's mouths were wide open staring at me except for Naraku who was taking a moment to catch his breath due to all the screaming he'd done.

We were all like statues for a few moments before I finally allowed a tear to escape my eye. I fell to the floor in defeat as I looked down at my lap. Perhaps he was right.

"…How…How did you know about my Dad?" I asked hesitantly, speaking each word carefully, as if it were the first time I'd heard them come from my own mouth.

"…Word gets around…" He replied carefully, seeming to regret what he'd said.

I nodded slowly before looking up to Bankotsu who seemed to be my only real friend at the moment. At least the only one who had the ability to rise me up from the stage I'm in now and remind me that Sesshomaru shouldn't be the most important thing in the world.

Bankotsu's eyes met mine as he seemed to be grieving with me. He bent down next to me and allowed me to rest my head on his shoulder for a moment. I had no idea why what had been said affected me so much more than before. Perhaps it was because he was comparing my Father's death to Sesshomaru, or perhaps it was only because he'd said it at a time when I was so stressed that anything could make me break down. Whatever the reason, I felt the need to escape the eyes watching me.

Bankotsu took the hint when I removed my head from his shoulder and stood up to give me a hand. I took it and stood up slowly, feeling off balance for several reasons. I took one look back at Sesshomaru before Bankotsu began to walk with me, taking slow, careful steps.

He looked to me and lipped the words 'I'm sorry.' For a moment it felt as though Bankotsu was the only person I would be able to trust ever. I knew myself well enough, however, to know that the feeling wouldn't last forever.

"Are…Are we still friends, Rin?" Sesshomaru asked hesitantly, obviously knowing that now wasn't a good time to ask but not knowing when he would get the next opportunity.

"I…I don't know." I told him, still unsure of how to consider everything that had been said to me.

As me and Bankotsu stepped outside I looked to a bench on the sidewalk.

"Could we please rest for a moment? I feel tired." I asked him. He nodded as we made our way to the seat.

I only sat down for a moment before I felt myself grow completely exhausted.

"Rin?" Was the last thing I heard Bankotsu say before I drifted off to sleep.

Bankotsu POV:

I watched Rin fall asleep on the park bench. She picked the most inconvenient time to doze off. I laughed slightly at her childish behavior before realizing that Sesshomaru would be coming out soon. I was sure she didn't want him there right now, and I wanted whatever she wanted. I picked her up with ease and put her into a piggyback position. She was surprisingly light. I walked her for a few minutes before realizing that I had no idea where her house was. I sat her on the sidewalk for a moment and woke her up with a nudge.

She looked up at me, confused for a moment as to where she was at. I chuckled before explaining why I'd waken her up.

"I was about to take you home but I have no idea where your house is." I told her as she shook away the last bit of sleepiness in her eyes.

"Oh, we can walk." She told me simply before standing up and stretching her back for a moment.

I thought for a moment before realizing that my Dad would be home in a little while and I needed to beat him home.

"Actually Rin, I can't walk you home. I gotta beat my Dad home." I explained.

I looked at her carefully to see that her eyes showed me that the idea of me leaving disappointed her.

"But won't your Dad be there?" She asked, concerned.

I chuckled. "Yeah."

Her eyes lost their sparkle for a split second.

"I've taken his crap for fifteen years, I can deal with it for another day." I reassured her.

She shook her head. "That was before I was your friend. Now that I am, I'm not going to let that happen to you so easily. Besides, how can you be sure that he's not going to snap one day? You never know how far an abuser can go."

I grimaced. "Is that some shit you picked up from a book?"

She laughed. "Nope. But I know what I'm talking about. My grandpa used to abuse my Mom." She explained.

I nodded in understanding before continuing. "Well, you don't need to worry about me. I swear I'll be fine. You'll see me again tomorrow in standard condition." I assured her, not positive I could be sure that what I'd said could be taken seriously.

She looked me in the eye for a moment before shaking her head again. "…But could you please come back to my house, even if just for a little while? I need someone to talk to and at the state she's in right now, talking to my Mom is as useful as talking to a dog."

I laughed for a moment before understanding how serious she was. I nodded and followed her as she led the way back to her house.

Rin POV:

When we got back to my house my Mom wasn't home yet. I told him to make himself comfortable as I headed upstairs, already seeing him plopping his feet up on the coffee table and turning on the T.V. How literal did he think I was being when I said 'comfortable'?

When I got to my room I closed my door and fell to the floor. My knees felt weak and I had no idea how much longer I would have been able to keep up my front that I wasn't feeling as bad as I did had I stayed in the living room with Bankotsu. I sat and cried for a moment before considering the situation.

Either Sesshomaru was lying or Naraku was lying. I contemplated who I should believe more, to which I got an immediate answer: Sesshomaru, of course. I knew him better and trusted him more than most of the people I'd met today…So why was I still thinking about this? Of course Sesshomaru's telling the truth. Perhaps not everything he said was true, but even if that was the case, as long as he cared about me and didn't actually want to hurt me than I still wanted to be his friend...or more? I blushed at the thought before feeling the door being opened behind me. I quickly wiped away my tears before turning to see Bankotsu.

"I came in to see…have you been crying?" Bankotsu asked, examining me carefully.

I turned away from him and gave a nervous laugh. "What? Why would I have been crying? Everything's fine." I said, false assurement coating my voice.

He grimaced before grabbing my face and turning me to look him in the eyes. "Rin, I don't like being lied to. It's alright to talk to me about it."

I gave a small smile before nodding. "Well, I decided to believe Sesshomaru. The whole crying thing was honestly for nothing, I do that every time I have too much stress to deal with. Oh, and when I fell asleep earlier, I do that a lot when I have a lot to deal with as well." I explained, knowing that there was no point in lying to someone who could obviously see right through you.

He laughed. "And how often is that exactly?"

I shrugged. "A couple times a day, I suppose. I don't do it in public though, of course."

His face fell as he looked me in the eyes once more. "Rin, you really shouldn't keep things to yourself so much. Your friends, or at least me, for that matter, would prefer to help you with things like that." He told me.

I looked up to him. "So I suppose you let everyone know your problems?" I asked.

He nodded. "That's what I'm doing when I get angry for no reason. Like today in class, that's how I deal with my issues."

I paused as my eyebrows slanted in confusion. "So while I deal with things with crying, you decide to have outbursts at random times to deal with problems at home?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. Speaking of random outbursts, my Dad's gonna kill me if I don't make it home before he does. I gotta leave but I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?" He asked, turning to head out.

My face fell at the term he used for how his Dad would deal with the situation, even knowing that it was only an expression. He turned back to me and laughed as he scratched my hair in comfort.

"Relax, I didn't mean 'kill'." He said, sounding too easy going.

"Are you sure anger is the best way to deal with what he does to you?" I asked, bringing up our past subject. "I mean, you're obviously more sad than you are mad about the situation, so perhaps you're dealing with the situation wrong."

He shrugged. "Maybe you're right, but either way, anger is a better way to keep people away rather than concerning them."

I looked at him in confusion for a moment before voicing my thoughts. "Why would you want to keep people away. With domestic problems like me and you have, wouldn't it be easier to have as many friends near you as possible?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Not really. It would be if all of those friends were like you, but the bad part is that not everyone is willing to deal with a guy like me, and even if they are they wouldn't accept it completely. That's why you're my first real friend since elementary. I don't want anyone who's willing to hang out with me for ten minutes a day and then go home to deal with their own lives, I want a friend who's actually as concerned about me as I am about them. Like you." He explained.

I blushed and smiled brightly at him. "…I kind of understand what you mean. At the same time though, it's better to have a large selection of good and bad friends to pick from, knowing that you can discard the bad at any time rather than only having one good friend." I replied.

He shook his head. "Try having a friend as good as yourself and saying that."

I smiled up at him before watching him walk down the stairs, I followed after him.

"I think I already do." I said, referring to him.

He laughed bitterly before turning to the front door. "As much as I care about you Rin, I don't think I'm the type of friend you need. However, I need you so even if I'm not the best thing for you, I'm feeling a little selfish so I think I wanna keep you." He said with a smirk as he began walking out the front door. "See you tomorrow."

I giggled before replying with "Okay, I'll see you."

When he left I went back up to my room. Things weren't bad knowing that I'd be able to forget what Sesshomaru had done to me and continue hanging out with him as I pleased and knew I wanted to do from the beginning.

Sesshomaru POV:

I understood how Rin was feeling, knowing that even if she would forgive or even begin to believe me again it would take more effort than just a simple apology, however, I was willing to do that. I sat in bed thinking of different options as to where to go from here as I drifted off to sleep. It was only 8 o' clock but I supposed I could use the extra sleep considering I hadn't been getting to sleep lately until 3 am or later for the past week.

I woke up in the morning to an annoying buzz, seeing my alarm clock sitting on my side table. I sat up to press the snooze button before crawling out of bed. I went to my dresser and decided on a pair of baggy jeans along with a simple white t-shirt, knowing that I didn't have much to dress up for today, the first day already over. However, when I looked in the mirror I noticed my abs showing through the shirt. Perhaps my recent work outs had been making more progress than I'd noticed.

I went through my normal morning routine before grabbing my bag and walking out the front door, only to remember that I would have to wait for Inuyasha anyways, knowing that I would have to give him a ride.

I sat in my car, not having to wait long, seeing him come out with a bagel hanging out of his mouth and his pants showing half of his boxers. I laughed to myself at the idea that as little as he tried, he still had almost as many girls hanging around him as I did.

When we got to school we met up with Miroku, who was apparently talking with Sango as she giggled at his hideous attempts to make her laugh. Me and Inuyasha ditched him for the time being and made our way slowly through the hallway.

"So what happened with Rin?" Inuyasha asked, hesitance made obvious in his voice.

I shook my head in confusion. "I'm not really sure. Even when she left she didn't give me a solid answer of whether she forgave me or not." I explained.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he turned to me. "Don't worry about it then, Man. It's probably just chick drama."

I shook my head. "Rin doesn't have 'chick drama'. She's the good type of girl; the simple one." I explained, knowing that as little as I was sure of I at least knew that much.

Inuyasha looked surprised by that. "…There are no chicks without chick drama. It comes with the package." He said, attempting to assure me.

I shook my head. "Not this one."

"…Hey dude?" He said carefully.

I turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

"…You don't actually _like_ Rin, do you?" He asked, unassurance showing through with his tone.

I turned to him with a grimace. "…Is that bad?"

His mouth dropped open and he turned away from me in disappointment. "_Yes!_ I thought that was obvious! You've known from the beginning that you're not allowed to fall in love with the victims!" He said, trying to maintain the anger in his voice while still keeping quiet.

I laughed darkly. "Thanks, but I don't think I need a lecture from my little brother." I said, quickening my pace to move ahead of him.

He caught up quickly. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I mean, I guess it is your choice…But still…Why her? There's tons of hot chicks in this school." He said, waving a hand to the several girls surrounding us for emphasis.

I chuckled, slight amusement in my voice. "There all fake. Rin's the only girl I've ever met who does her best at everything and still stays modest on top of the fact that she's honest and innocent: Two of my favorite features in a girl that I haven't ever actually been able to find."

He looked to the floor in thought for a moment before looking up at me with a playful smile. "Plus she's one of the hottest girls I've ever seen. Seriously, you know how many guys she's gonna have pilling around her for attention in a couple years. If you want her, you gotta know how to put up a good fight for er'."

I grimaced at the thought, already not liking the attention she was getting from the male population at the school in the first day. "Hands off." I snapped back.

He chuckled, seeming amused by the though. "Duh, I already got Kagome. Even if I wasn't, I'm not the type to go after fourteen year old girls. Child molester!" He joked.

"Shut up, it's only a four year difference. That's not a big deal." I replied, obviously angered by his words.

He laughed. "Whatever. Look, there's Rin now." He pointed as he patted my shoulder in encouragement. "She's with Bankotsu again. You better watch the competition." He said, turning in the direction for his first class.

I pushed his hand away, getting sick of his attempts to either make me feel better or worse, I wasn't so sure which one. I slowly walked up to Rin, composing my new apology in my head. Since when was I willing to try so hard for a girl? Never. She'd made me actually _care_, something no girl had ever been able to do.

As I approached her she turned to me with a bright smile, something I'd been yearning to see since yesterday after she left. I looked to her, seeing nothing but hospitality coming from her eyes. This seemed like it was going to be easier than I though.

Rin POV:

I was happy to see Sesshomaru again. The last time I'd seen him he seemed almost as upset as I was. He seemed prepared to give me another explanation, I waved a hand in the air to assure him that there was no need.

"I decided to forgive you. I wanna believe what you told me yesterday, about how you were going to forget about the bet anyways. So I will." I said, smiling calmly, reassuring him that everything was fine between us. Better than fine.

He looked to me with honest eyes and nodded. "Thank you so much, Rin. I promise, the bet is going to be over as soon as I tell Inuyasha and Miroku…and Naraku." He told me, smiling earnestly.

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked up at him in confusion. "You didn't tell them yet?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I haven't had time. I haven't even talked to Naraku since yesterday and Miroku was busy this morning. I'll tell them all as soon as I see them. Sorry I forgot."

I giggled. "Relax. It's fine, I'm just glad you're gonna call it off."

He smiled, seeming as though it was more to himself than to me as he whispered, "Just like I told Inuyasha: No complications."

I tilted my head. "What?"

He chuckled. "Nothing. Anyways, you wanna walk to class?"

I turned to Bankotsu, he looked at me in understanding. "Why not. I got to walk you to school, as much as I don't want to, I gotta share." He said with a smirk.

I laughed and waved to him as the warning bell rang ans Sesshomaru took my non-waving hand.

"So, why'd you forgive me so easily?" He asked, looking down at me.

I smiled. "I don't like keeping worries that can be fixed easily. That's why I can't stay mad at people for more than a few hours, especially when I like them." I explained before realizing that I pretty much confessed to liking him.

He smirked down at me. "What was that?" He asked, obviously having heard.

I felt my cheeks burning red as I squeezed my eyes shut. "Nothing! I have no idea what I just said!"

He chuckled. "I think I do though. Why would you wanna forget it? It's good if you like me."

I shook my head. "Not if the feeling's not mutual."

He looked down and quirked his eyebrow. "What makes you so sure it's not?"

My mouth dropped before I quickly recomposed myself. "…Because you're a senior. I'm not even a Freshman yet."

He laughed. "As if that makes a difference to me. Like I said yesterday, I could care less about age."

The blush began to fade from my cheeks as I looked up at him in confusion. "Soooo…What does that mean?" I asked.

He chuckled playfully. "That means I like you, Rin." He said simply, seeming as though it was such an easy thing for him to say.

I tripped at his remark and the blush immediately returned to my cheeks. He caught me and smiled calmy.

"You alright?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. I'm actually really confused. What do we do now?"

"Well Rin, that's your own decision. Would you like to go out?" He asked cooly, looking down at me with a small smile.

My eyes widened as I nodded vigorously. He chuckled. "Good. You're no longer my victim, but girl friend."

My stomach flipped when he said that. I did my best to stable myself but I was still off balance for the rest of the walk to class. He seemed entertained with my embarrassment but decided to help me by holding me up the remaining walk.

When we got there he gave me a kiss on the cheek before turning in the direction for his own class. "See ya', Rin."

I smiled and waved to him as I took a step into class only to find a very unapproving Kanna standing on the other side. I gave her a shy smile.

"You're going out with him? What happened?" She asked, not sounding as mad as I'd been expecting.

I spent the remaining minute of time before class started explaining what had gone on from yesterday when I'd last talked to her to now when she'd just seen Sesshomaru kiss me.

After knowing the entire story she crossed her arms in confusion. "Huh, I can't believe it. I think he actually likes you. And not just the fake kind that he does to every girl, like the real kind of like." She said, a slight smile spreading across her face.

I smiled widely. "You think so?"

She nodded in assurance as the bell rang and we both turned to the front of the classroom.

My first relationship was going to be with a guy who I originally liked, than disliked, then liked again, then disliked, then liked again in a period of two days. I hoped to keep my new feelings for him for longer than my previous emotions.


	4. Chapter 4

**Just so you guys know, there's probably going to be some sympathy for Bankotsu in this chapter. But I promise that it all leads up to something good. Haha, Rin will **_**not**_** end up with Bankotsu. This is a Rin/ Sesshomaru fanfiction for your information. It's just like in Twilight how when Edward screw up Bella hang out with Jacob and they get close then when Edward comes back things go back to normal (: Lol Thanks for reading!**

Bankotsu POV:

I was still in slight shock at the idea that Rin was going out with Sesshomaru. The first girl that I'd ever liked as anything more than a booty call was now going out with someone who's intentions I was unsure of.

I spent all of first period contemplating possibilities. The least likely, however, my favorite prospect was the idea of Rin coming to her senses and dumping Sesshomaru without getting her heart broken again. I knew that could only happen in my imagination. The small piece of hope that I did possess was only what Rin had given me in the day and a half period that she'd known me. Before I'd met her I was practically dead, at least that's how everyone else saw me whenever I wasn't in a fight. Rin saw past that though, which is one reason why I admired her.

By the time the bell rang for class to get out practically everyone was already out of their seats. I eased myself up slowly before seeing the large amount of girls beginning to follow me. That was weird. Even though most of the girls in school kept secret crushes from me, knowing that I wasn't someone who would be graceful about that kind of situation, I had never actually had any of them making it known. I turned to give all of them a dirty look, they cowered in fear before coming closer. What the hell is wrong with these chicks?

As I stepped out of class I found a satisfied looking Sesshomaru waiting for me. I glared at him, similar to the look I'd given the girls who'd been following me, before speaking up.

"Did you tell them to do this?" I asked, obviously referring to the large amount of girls surrounding me.

He nodded, looking as though he was giving himself a pat on the back for a good deed. "These girls are my gift to you. Now that I have the girl I've really wanted I don't need them anymore. All you need to do for me in return is stay away from Rin." He said.

I shook my head in slight disgust. "Don't do me any favors. I don't want these bitches. I want Rin, believe it or not." The girls standing around me gave offended gasps, before leaving my side in anger. That did it. I smiled to myself at the idea that I'd been able to get rid of them with such simple words. Rin wouldn't have walked away, she would have tried to work with my stubbornness.

He chuckled, although there was no humor in his voice. "Don't we all. Unfortunately for you, she's _my_ girlfriend now. Maybe you don't know this, but I'm not used to having to work for girls. Now that I've had to, and I have what I want, I won't let her go without a fight." He said, looking me in the eyes threateningly.

I smirked. "As will I." I replied.

He stood up straight before continuing. "Don't you think it would be better for you to think of her as something else? Such as a friend. Just because she's a girl doesn't mean you need to think of her like I do. It's okay to just be her friend. She's lacking in that department and I don't like the idea that she has more people wanting to be her boyfriends rather than friends. I care about her and I think right now all she needs from you is a friend. And I'm not just saying that out of jealousy." He said, as serious look in his eyes.

What he said concerned me. He made a good point. If she had so many guys after her, even having a boyfriend, maybe all she wanted for once was a good friend.

I nodded in response, letting him know that I understood what he was trying to get across.

He smiled, looking as though he was more obliged to do so rather than _actually_ pleased. "Good. And just so you know, you don't even need to think of her as a friend. A sister is fine as well. As long as you keep your hands off then you won't need to stay away." He explained.

I looked to the floor, most likely looking as though I was zoning off to him, even though I knew that I was merely thinking. "Wasn't planning on it."

He laughed, sounding a little more carefree this time. "Think about it this way. I care about Rin more than you, even if that may not be what you think, it's true. And what's also true is that you need Rin, whether you know it or not. I'm not sure yet whether or not she needs you, but I'm pretty sure that she needs me, at least to a point. I'm only trying to be logical with you right now, but honestly, who do you think is better for Rin?"

His last words were a little harsh. I knew that Rin would be better without me, I knew that Sesshomaru would be better for her. I knew that I was being selfish continuing to hang around her, but I couldn't help it. As much as she'd helped me, it would be too difficult to just _stop_ liking her.

However, I nodded to Sesshomaru, deciding that right now wasn't a good time to pick a fight.

He walked away without another word, most likely on his way to pick up Rin. I decided to skip second period, I wanted some time to think.

Sesshomaru POV:

I didn't want to have to lay things out so flatly for Bankotsu. I knew that Rin was helping him, and as his teacher, if nothing else, I should want what's best for him. However, I didn't. He wanted Rin and I knew that even if she was what's best for him, he wasn't what's best for her.

I knew that Rin didn't want another fanboy, and I sure as hell didn't. I was sure that she would prefer to look at him as a friend, so that's what I told him. I felt like a sissy though, actually considering Bankotsu's feelings in my actions. Rin was beginning to turn me soft, as she was doing with Bankotsu. Soon Rin would melt the hearts of every hard ass guy in school.

*Lunch*

Rin POV: When we got to the cafeteria, we being me, Sesshomaru, and Bankotsu, we went straight to the food line, hoping to be early enough to have enough time to get out lunch_ and_ eat it. I'd learned by yesterday that our lunch time was strictly limited and if you didn't have time to finish eating that was your stomachs way of saying "screw you".

After we had gotten our food, deciding on Italian today in the multi-choice lunch room, we took our seat at our usual table.

I noticed right away however, that Bankotsu took this time to separate from us. I looked to see where he was going to find him heading to the back door. He was going to eat outside? I looked to Sesshomaru for a moment, asking him with my eyes if it would be okay to ask him to eat with us. He understood and nodded without complaining. I smiled brightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek before running to catch up with Bankotsu.

I tapped him on the shoulder which made him turn around. I gave him a small smile before speaking.

"Why don't you eat with us today?" I asked.

He looked behind me for a moment, seeming to be looking to Sesshomaru.

He looked back at me with a frown. "I don't think Sesshomaru would like that."

I giggled. "I asked him and he said it's fine. Besides, since when did you care what Sesshomaru thinks?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But yeah, I guess I'll eat with you guys today."

I smiled as I led the way back to our lunch table. When we sat down everyone looked to Sesshomaru awkwardly except Sesshomaru. I appreciated Sesshomaru's acceptance of Bankotsu as my friend. I pulled closer to Sesshomaru as he draped an arm over my shoulder. We all talked for a few moments before beginning to eat.

"So Rin, how do you and Bankotsu know eachother?" Asked Kagome nervously, seeming as though she was asking a question that everyone else was trying to avoid.

"We've only been friends since yesterday actually." I replied simply.

They all nodded and from then on the awkwardness around the table was forgotten and the conversations continued. Inuyasha and Miroku continued making out with their girlfriends like they'd been yesterday. That's when the awkwardness came back, for me, at least. I wondered for a moment if they purposely finished their lunches extra earlier so they could use the remaining five minutes of lunch to make out.

It was even worse than yesterday because by now me and Sesshomaru were dating and still weren't kissing like Inuyasha and Kagome or Miroku and Sango. I looked up to Sesshomaru and he gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back, deciding to forget about how weird the surrounding situation was. Me, Sesshomaru, and Bankotsu carried on with our conversation without any interruptions for the rest of lunch.

Afterwards, we all made our way to Sex Ed. When I sat in my seat Sesshomaru left his desk for a moment and came to lean on my desk as we talked.

"So Rin, how would you like to go out some time? Just for fun?" He asked, no sign of hesitance in his voice.

I smiled back. "When?"

"Whenever you're free. Where would you like to go?" He asked.

"Ummm, I'm free Saturday. How about we go to the amusement park?" I asked, smiling widely at the idea.

"Sounds good." He said, kissing my forehead before heading back to his desk as the bell rang.

Class went on for the next hour. Today the topic was hormones. I did slightly better in containing my embarrassment than yesterday, however, I could tell that Sesshomaru was getting amusement out of my nervousness.

The rest of the day was pretty average. I talked to Kanna for a little while in my other classes and hung out with Sesshomaru for the rest of the day. I loved Kanna but I knew that it was obvious: It was so much easier for me to talk to guys than it was with girls.

After school, Sesshomaru offered to take me home. I would have gone but I hadn't gotten to talk to Bankotsu much today, even during lunch I talked to Sesshomaru most of the time. Granted, Sesshomaru was my boyfriend, but Bankotsu was still my friend. I turned to Bankotsu, seeing him leaning into Sesshomaru's side of the car whispering something. What could he have been saying that gave Sesshomaru the irritated look covering his face.

Sesshomaru POV:

I was slightly upset by the idea that Rin was going to walk home with Bankotsu rather than drive home with me. Walking home was something couples do. I decided to set aside my jealousy. Bankotsu said he'd stop trying for now, as long as he stuck to that I didn't have anything to worry about. That was, until Bankotsu leaned over my car door with a cocky smirk.

"I changed my mind. I'm gonna keep trying to get Rin, she's worth it and I don't care if you think I'm not good for her. I'm gonna be selfish this time and for once get what I want." He said, pulling away after a moment of looking to see my reaction.

I couldn't help myself. I pushed open the car door and in less than a second I was tackling him. I got in a few good punches before Rin came over to stop the commotion. It didn't last long but from the way he looked you would have guessed that the fight had gone on for at least a few minutes. He wiped blood off of his lip as he stood up, trying to ignore the obvious pain in his jaw. I gave myself a satisfied smirk at the damage I'd done in such a short time before turning to a very unpleased Rin.

"Sesshomaru! What happened?" She asked.

I looked away from her eyes. She walked closer, forcing me to look straight at her.

"…Sesshomaru? What happened?" She asked carefully.

I shook my head, trying to dismiss the interrogation, soon realizing that she wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"It's nothing. He just got me mad." I said, looking back over to him. He was still smirking, as if he'd gotten what he wanted.

"What was that exactly?" She asked, exhasperated.

"…He's not gonna give up…" I said hesitantly.

She tilted her head in confusion. "On what?"

I turned quiet. Rin turned to Bankotsu who didn't reply. "Guys? What happened?"

Without a reply Rin went with her instincts. "Fine. But even if you guys won't help me, Bankotsu still needs to get cleaned up. I'm gonna take him home." She said, looking at me, unsure.

"…Fine. Sorry Rin." I said hesitantly.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. I'm not mad at you though, last time you hurt Bankotsu it was 'cause he was gonna rape me so I'm sure you had a good reason. At least I hope you did." She said in understanding, standing on her tip toes to give me a quick kiss on the cheek, leaning on my side for support. "See you tomarrow, Sesshomaru." She said with a quick wave.

I waved back before turning back to the guys. Miroku's eyes were wide and Inuyasha's mouth was hanging open.

"Now _that's_ a girl with no complications." Inuyasha said, watching her as she walked away in shock.

I smiled in satisfaction. "I know. I love it."

They both laughed as I took my seat back in the car.

Rin POV:

I did my best to hold Bankotsu up on the way back, it was difficult considering how heavy he was. I would have taken him back to his own house, had my house not been closer along with the fact that he didn't know when his dad would be home. I sat him down on the couch and gave him a comforting smile.

"I need to get a few things out of the medicine cabinet." I said. He nodded.

I walked away, watching him to see that he wasn't even picking up the towel. He just leaned back into the couch, covered in blood. I wondered for a moment if Mom would be mad if there was blood on the couch before dismissing the though. I didn't want to have to tell him to move and I felt somewhat responsible for what happened to him considering it was _my_ boyfriend that did it. Although, I wasn't mad at Sesshomaru. Knowing that the last time he'd hurt Bankotsu was over something like _assault_, I was sure that whatever Bankotsu had said was over something very important to him.

After coming downstairs with peroxide, alcohol, band-aids, and several other things, I wondered for a moment whether or not I should use the alcohol. I remembered for a moment when I was a little girl, my father had helped me clean a cut after I'd fallen while playing with some of the boys outside. We were out of peroxide so he cleaned it with alcohol. I still had a faint memory of the burn. Better to leave the alcohol out.

I sat down beside him. He looked much better now, almost normal. However, the large gashes on the side of his face didn't go unnoticed. I turned his face toward me and began dabbing at the blood with a peroxide covered cotton-ball.

He didn't flinch away from my touch. I gave him a few band-aids along the side of his jaw and chin. He chuckled. I looked at him momentarily before speaking up.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You're taking care of me like I'm a girl. Guys can handle more." He replied with a smile.

My eyebrows furrowed at the memory of all of my guy-friends getting hurt when we were little. They never minded me tending to them. Then I realized it: Bankotsu was used to the pain.

I looked down at my lap in thought before voicing my next words.

"Not all guys. Just you." I replied, understanding flashed across his face.

"…Maybe you're right…Still, it's nice knowing that someone's actually trying to help rather than worsen the pain." He said, no sign of sadness in his eyes.

His words stung. I frowned. "That's why it's good that we're friends. It's important that we stay like this, for both of our sakes, so from now on, think of me as a sister." I said, turning my frown up into a smile.

Bankotsu POV:

I thought about her words. 'So from now on, think of me as a sister.' She was the second person to have told me that. As if that could happen, I was interested in Rin as a friend, true. However, when a girl so beautiful treats you so well, not having felt the kindness of a women in your life, it's impossible not to love her.

I nodded though, even if only for the mere reason of assuring her.

She smiled for a moment before standing up and picking up the first aid kit she'd brought. "Anyways, I need to take a shower. You're welcome to watch T.V. or make yourself something to eat if you want."

I nodded to her before she made her way upstairs. I leaned back into the couch before picking up the remote and turning on her T.V. The best thing on was Gangland: A stupid show that tried to explain the reality of gangs. They had no idea what gangs were really about; in orded to understand that, you would have to actually be in one. However, that show never talked about what gangs were really about: family. I'd given a thought to joining a gang several times. I'd been on the fence about it for a while, perhaps if Rin hadn't come along I would have been involved in the Crips or Bloods within a few months.

I thought about this for a moment before being interrupted by the thought of how badly I needed to pee. I stood up and walked up the stairs, looking for the bathroom. Surely, Rin wasn't showering yet. It'd only been a minute since she'd come up here. I opened several doors, not finding the correct one and getting frustrated. I opened the last door on the right only to find a naked Rin getting undressed to take a shower.

She looked to me with shock in her eyes before the red touched her cheeks and she screamed.

"Oh, sorry." I said simply before turning and walking out, closing the door behind me.

I heard Rin's breathing begin to steady before evaluating my own embarrassment. I checked my heartbeat: Normal. I checked my thoughts: Non-perverted. I checked my package: Non-erect. Then I realized: I was finally beginning to think of Rin as an actual _sister_, just like everyone had been telling me to do. NO!

Rin POV:

Bankotsu had just seen me naked! He had absolutely no reaction. Was my body that ugly that I couldn't appeal to a guy even naked? Then I checked myself. There was nothing unusual about how I felt. It was as though my own brother had seen me naked. I remembered back when I was young, around 9 or 10, running around the house naked without shame. The brother I used to have, before dying, never reacted to this. He acted as though I was fully clothed, as any brother would. However, hadn't Bankotsu already confessed that he liked me. Was he actually beginning to think of me as I thought of him: family?

I breathed a sigh of relief at that moment. I wanted Bankotsu as a friend, of course he was attractive and I liked his personality and the fact that we both come from dysfunctional homes just gave us common grounds to build our friendship off of. I wondered if what Sesshomaru had said before about me having had no guy-friends that were interested in me as only a friend. I frowned in dismay as I pondered the thought but decided to let it go. I would have Bankotsu as my best friend and Sesshomaru as my boyfriend.

I thought over how things had been before yesterday. I'd had a large amount of friends that I knew from different places, none of which I was extremely close to except for Renkotsu. My breathing hitched. Even if I for some reason had to believe that all of my friends weren't real friends, I had to at least believe that Renkotsu was. I'd known him since Kindergarten and we'd been best friends and neighbors until I was forced to move here. He, at least, wanted me as a friend rather than anything else…I hoped.

I ignored the thought, knowing that thinking of Renkotsu in that manner would only upset me. I turned the shower on and waited for it to heat up before I stepped in. I let the water drizzle over me as I questioned whether I would have gone home with Sesshomaru had Bankotsu not been hurt and I knew the obvious answer was yes without a second thought. Come to think of it, I hadn't been on a date with Sesshomaru. Granted, we hadn't even been dating for more than 2 days, however, I decided that I would ask him about going out tomorrow. I smiled at the thought.

Bankotsu POV:

Thinking of such a beautiful girl who I wasn't even related to in such a non-erotic way seemed abnormal. I'd seen her completely naked and I didn't even feel heated. Her body was of course as beautiful as she was but I for some reason didn't react. I groaned to myself as I sauntered downstairs and plopped down on the couch. I positioned myself to lounge and turned on the T.V. with the remote. Perhaps thinking of Rin like this was for the best. After all, if I only thought of her as a sister, Sesshomaru wouldn't have a beef with me and I could continue hanging out with her which I knew I needed, even if I didn't want her in the same way I would any girl that I'd met as hot as she was.

Ten minutes later Rin came downstairs with wet hair and a towel on. Still nothing! What the hell is wrong with me!

"Sorry. I left my clean laundry downstairs." She explained as she made her way towards the kitchen and brought out a purple basket full to the top of clean clothes with a slight floral scent. She struggled to hold the basket up along with her towel and she looked to the stairs as if they were the Great Wall of China. I laughed to myself as I stood up and jogged over.

"Here. Let me help you." I offered, pulling the basket out of her hands.

She smiled, embarrassed. "Thanks."

When I brought it into her room which she directed me into I placed it on the bed and walked back out. No matter how "sisterly" I thought of her, I couldn't have helped but notice the innocent pink and blue stripped underwear sitting on top of the pile. She definitely, if nothing else, had the innocence of a little girl.

Rin POV: I changed into a white and yellow polka dot t-shirt along with cotton pink short shorts. When I came downstairs Bankotsu looked comfortable as he sat on the couch watching Robot Chicken. I'd never been allowed to watch Cartoon Network after 7 o' clock because Mom said that was when it got inappropriate. Not that I'd ever really cared to anyways, my T.V. intake was only about 30 minutes per day. I sat down next to him and smiled.

"Sorry for walking in on you." He told me, looking me straight in the eye with no real sign of embarrassment showing.

I waved a hand in dismissal. "No, it's my fault. I meant to lock the door."

He nodded. "But at least I realized something." He replied.

My head cocked to the side in curiosity. "What's that?"

"I'm not attracted to you at all." He said flatly.

My mouth turned into a thin line as I did my best to contain my laughter. I started laughing, having lost the battle with myself before turning to him. "Gee, thanks." I joked sarcastically.

He chuckled back, no awkwardness showing in either of us. "I didn't mean that you aren't as cute as I originally thought you were, you might be even cuter than I thought. But as much as it pains me, I can only think of you as a brother." He explained.

I nodded in understanding. "I figured that. That's good though because I only think of you as I did my Brother."

His smile went solemn at the mention of my late brother. We were both quiet for a moment.

"At least I have something to brag about to Sesshomaru." He said with a smile again.

I looked up from my lap. "What's that?"

"I got to see you naked wayyyy before he did." He joked with a grin.

I laughed with him as I gave him a playful hit on the shoulder. We talked like that for about 10 more minutes before time caught up to us. It was already 7:40. I groaned in realization.

"My Mom's gonna kill me! I haven't even cleaned the house yet!" I said looking around at the mess. He stood up, seeming as though my messy house was the least of his worries. I then realized why: There was a chance that if he was late his dad would _literally_ kill him.

"I gotta go, Rin. I'm sorry, I would help you clean but I really gotta get outta here!" He said, picking his shoes up from the floor beside the couch and sliding them on.

"Oh my gosh! Your dad! Do you want me to go home with you?" I asked.

His eyes widened as he grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes seriously. "No! Rin, you can _not_ come home with me under any conditions! Do you understand?"

My eyes dropped as I nodded in understanding. "Good. I'm sorry, Rin. I'd love to take you home if it wasn't for my bastard-of-a-dad and the crap filled room I live in." He said jokingly, trying to lighten my mood.

I watched him take the first step outside. Was I really going to let my "brother" go home to a dad so he could beat him? I knew the answer to that before half a second's time was up/ I quickly grabbed my shoes and slipped them on. He said I couldn't _come_ home with him, that didn't mean I couldn't _follow_ him home.

Bankotsu POV:

I ran home, I had no idea why. I knew that the only thing waiting for me at home was a drunken fist. Meanwhile, I had an adorable little sister sitting not a block behind me and I was running in the wrong direction.

When I arrived I saw Dad's rusty red truck in the driveway. I walked past it, already prepared for everything he had to offer. I opened the door with confidence, not a second after I walked in, an empty beer bottle was thrown at me. I dodged it with ease as I gave a cocky smirk to the man in front of me.

"Come on, Dad. Don't you think the whole 'throwing the beer bottle at the kid who comes home late' is a little cliché? When have we been doing that since? Second grade?" I teased with confidence. Who knew, maybe I was asking for it. In some ways I was a bit self-destructive. At least in front of my Father. In front of Rin I could be a whole different person, someone who could smile with ease, almost looking like a normal kid. But with Dad near I was only a chaotic, self-hating, bastard. Just like my dad. Takes one to fight one.

He groaned as he prepared to lunge for my collar. I swiftly moved out of the way. Even though Dad was strong, his downfall was that he almost always made his moves known. However, when he had a hold of me, it was hard to get away until he'd done what he wanted and bruised as he pleased.

He looked at me with unmistakable hatred before making his next move. I had been exoecting him to lunge for my throat, so I moved to the side only a few steps, but to my surprise, his drunk-ass had thought it out. He grabbed me by the leg and pulled me down to the floor.

I closed my eyes in defeat before I quickly composed my cocky demeanor that I had to maintain in front of my Dad in order to at least let him _think_ that I wasn't scared of what he would do to me. Before, to be honest, I couldn't give a damn if he killed me. Now however, I had my new 'little sister' to live for.

I took a couple hits from his to my jaw before the door busted open and Rin came running in. My heart sunk at the sight of her. I had told her to stay home! What the hell was she thinking!

"No! Don't hurt Brother!" She screamed, stepping in front of me in a protective stance. Why would she even think she could help me escape my Dad! Hell would freeze over before I would let her get any closer to him.

He looked at her with the same look he gave me. I hated him even more for doing that. He shouldn't have given her that look. She didn't deserve to feel the cold glare of his eyes. He ran in an attempt to get a hold of her. Hell no!

I gave a side kick to his jaw. He hit the floor in the same second and stood back up in the next.

"Rin! Get out of here!" I demanded, taking a fighting stance in my Dad's direction but looking toward her.

She shook her head in refusal. "No way! I'm not leaving unless you come with me!" She stated.

I groaned before abandoning my position and running by her as I pulled her my the hand and ran out the front door.

We ran down the street, she seemed to be having trouble keeping up with me so it was more like me dragging her through the street while she did her best to stay on her feet.

He eyes were wide with fear. "You have to come back to my house!" She said.

"No! I don't want him to know where you live!" I replied, looking back to see that he was without a doubt chasing after us.

She groaned as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Within a minute she was able to call and explain the situation the the police.

"If it takes them longer than the time it takes to get back to my house to get here than we'll just run past it and keep him going until the cops get here." She said, sounding a little more calm than before.

I nodded as I continued running with her. He wasn't gaining on us but we were keeping a steady pace and if it hadn't been for my three years in track, he would have already caught up to Rin within a second. Though I was impressed with Rin's quick actions in the current situation.

After running past Rin's house, we kept going until we made it to the ditch where it would be easier to turn around with we would need to do to make it easier for the cops find us. By the time the cops arrived we were in the general area of my house.

After my Dad was in the car the cops began questioning us. "Do you kids know that man?" Mr. Hernandez asked. I squeezed Rin's hand which I realized I still hadn't let go off, letting her know to let me answer.

"No Sir." I replied, using a word that I didn't usually use to refer to adults, or anyone for that matter. However, I was particularly thankful to this specific adult.

If I told them he was my father, I knew what would happen: They would send me to a foster home and I would most likely never see Rin again. They continued with the questioning before allowing us to leave and telling us to go straight home. We nodded and turned away from the scene.

"…Live with me." Rin suggested, turning to me seriously.

My mouth was agape as I examined her offer. "Can I?" I asked.

She nodded. "I would need to ask my mom but I'm sure if I explain your situation she'll let you."

I loved the idea. Granted, I only thought of Rin as a sister, that was exactly the kind of person I wanted to be able to live with.

I nodded with a grin as we made our way back to her house. She giggled as we stepped inside back into the mess. It wasn't so bad, merely needed to be picked up and vacuumed.

"If my mom's going to agree we're gonna have to sweeten her up by cleaning this up."

I nodded as we got to work. We spent the next thirty minutes cleaning the living room and kitchen. The other rooms were already clean so we spent the remaining couple minutes until her mom got home sitting on the couch watching Nickelodeon.

Rin POV:

Mom got home quicly after we had finished cleaning. I knew Mom wouldn't suspect anything if I had a guy over. Her senses of worry and anxiousness had diffused in the time since Dad and Brother had died. Some kids would be happy at the idea of being able to do what they want without any input from their parents, I was the opposite. For me, Mom's lack of concern only reminded me of how numb she'd become since our previous losses.

"Mom, this is Bankotsu." I said, directing a hand in his direction. She nodded her head in his direction as she took of her jacket and placed it on the coat rack.

"He's…going to be living with us from now on." I said, putting it simply. I had found in the past that Mom agreed more often if I asked in a way that made it seem like the proposition had already been decided on.

She nodded, not giving me any look of curiosity of anger. Her expression stayed the same as always. I expected to at least have to explain that his father was in jail and his family wouldn't be willing to take him in but she didn't ask. I knew that this was the only way to deal with her, she had closed herself off to me for the most part, she could only have simple conversations and anything else was too much for her, it was as if anything else would break her. She was as delicate as glass.

I couldn't blame her though. She was closest to Dad. I was closest to Brother. When Brother had died, Dad helped her though it. I had no one helping me but myself so I used that time to become stronger. She had only become more fragile and when Dad died, I was already used to the loss of an important family member, meanwhile, she felt abandoned and alone. Even having me by her side wasn't enough.

Banktosu looked at me in confusion. I nodded to him, letting him know that her silence was her admittance. I walked upstairs with him following behind me. When we got to my room I looked around.

"I'll sleep on the floor until we find an extra place to sleep. You can use my bed for now." I told him.

He laughed. "You honestly think I'm gonna let my adorable little sister sleep on the floor."

I cocked my head to the side. "Yeah. I know that you're not gonna be sleeping on the floor, that's for sure. Don't worry, I'll make sure I make it cozy with a bunch of blankets and pillows." I said with a smile.

He shook his head. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"No. Consider yourself my permanent guest. Even if you are my brother I'm not gonna do that to my brother." I said.

He smiled. "What would you do if I was your old brother?"

I paused. "Well when my brother's room was being used by my cousins when they were visiting we shared a bed." I explained.

"Alright, we'll do that." He said.

I looked back to the bed. It would be pretty much the same as sleeping with Brother. If I'd been able to sleep with Brother butt-naked, surely I could sleep with Bankotsu fully clothed. "Okay."

The rest of that night ran smoothly. It was my job to make dinner, like always, so I made spaghetti, the easiest and quickest dish that I could make with the short time until dinner time. I cooked the meatballs separately and added them in the end. We ate without much conversation from Mom and the night continued without any complaints.

When it was bedtime I changed into my P.J.'s. I wore a yellow t-shirt and black short shorts which Bankotsu said made me look like a bumble bee. I wouldn't have changed had I not gotten spaghetti sauce all over my old shirt. It was totally non-awkward sleeping next to Bankotsu. I had a queen size bed due to our extra money with only two family members so there was plently of room for both of us to be sprawled out. It felt exactly like sleeping with Brother and I was sure it was the exact same for Bankotsu.

Bankotsu POV:

We woke up the next morning and I quickly realized that my clothes were still at my old house. I had the option of running to get them and coming back or I could see if she had anything else I could wear. Rin woke up with sleep-infested eyes. I laughed at her expression.

"Morning. Do you guys got any clothes I could wear until I get my clothes back from my house?" I asked.

She paused for a second before getting up. "Hold on a second."

She left the room and came back a few seconds later with some neatly folded clothes.

"These are my Brother's clothes. They seem like your size." She said before turning to her own wardrobe. I decided to allow her to have her won room to change in. Sleeping in the same bed was enough closure for brother and sister. Granted, I'd already seen her naked, it was still abnormal for a brother and sister to always change in front of each other with no shame.

As I unfolded the outfit I realized that her brother's cloths were not only my size but my style. She had given me a simple white wife-beater and dark wash jeans that were baggy just like I would wear my own. I wore a belt however, loosely, merely for choice of style rather than to hold them up. When I went back to her room she giggled.

"I remember when Brother wore that outfit to church one day and the pastor told him that he was _under dressed_." She explained. I smiled at her expression when she reminisced.

"Do you guys have any of your brother's old shoes?" I asked. She nodded and brought me to a collection of Jordan's and Nike's in a closet that I supposed was of her brother's old clothes.

"No one's worn these since Brother was alive so don't mess them up please. You can use whatever you want though." She told me.

I nodded and turned to the closet of shoes and clothes as Rin walked away to go back to her room. I decided on the dark blue and black Nike's. As I slid them on, Rin came out of her room in a loosely buttoned up but tightly fitting button up shirt with a blue flowy skirt. I couldn't help but notice the amount of cleavage her shirt showed. Perhaps to normal guys it wouldn't be considered a lot, but to her newly found protective big brother, it was like the length of the Grand Canyon. I ran up to her and began buttoning the top of her shirt. She giggled as she pulled my hands away.

"Relax." She told me.

I frowned but decided to give Sesshomaru the gift of my sister. After Rin found and extra toothbrush for me and we both took care of that, Rin brushed through her hair quickly and we walked downstairs.

"We have time to eat breakfast if you want anything?" She offered.

"Got any cereal?" I asked.

She nodded as she reached into the nearest cabinet and pulled out some Coco Puffs. We ate quickly and made our way to school.

Sesshomaru POV:

I had decided yesterday that I would take Rin out today. I had thought through possibilities before deciding to just let her choose. I pulled up to school as Inuyasha and Miroku jumped out. I opened my door smoothly, in no hurry to make it to school, and sauntered over to them.

Before we even reached the entrance, Kagura latched onto my arm. I groaned in annoyance.

"Sesshomaru! It seems like you've ignored me lately." She said in an overly peppy voice that made me sick.

"Maybe because I have." I replied simply before attempting to shake her off.

"Why? You didn't used to be like this Sesshy. You've changed. I don't like it." She said, pouting.

"I honestly couldn't care less if you don't like it, Kanna. Now could you let go of me before Rin sees." I asked, turning to the guys for help. They did nothing but laugh.

"Why does she matter? She's just your new play thing. _I_ wouldn't mind being your play thing but I'm sure that girl will get upset when she finds out." She said, trying to make her offer sound tempting.

I shook my head. "Nope. It's not like that. She's my long term girlfriend."

Her jaw dropped. "I…Impossible! She's only in 8th grade! You're obviously just messing with her!" She said in denial.

I smirked. "Nope."

She gasped before turning away in anger. I turned back to the guys with a smile.

"Wow, you actually found a way to get rid of your whore." Miroku said in surprise an amusement.

"Yeah, no thanks to you guys." I huffed.

Inuyasha laughed before walking in front of me with Miroku by his side. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're soooo sorry." He said sarcastically. I glared before he spoke his next words. "Your girlfriend's here."

I turned around to see Rin's smile. I placed an arm over her shoulder before Bankotsu spoke up to make his presence known.

"I got good news and bad news for you." He said with a smirk.

I grimaced at his expression. "Bad news first."

He chuckled. "Alright. It'd probably be less painful for me if you get the good news first but it'll be a hell o' a lot funnier if you get the bad news first."

I rolled my eyes as he continued. "I saw Rin naked yesterday."

My eyes went wide as Rin turned back to him in shock. "I thought we weren't gonna tell him!" She shouted.

"Nooo, I said specifically that it would give me something to brag about to Sesshomaru, and I did." He said with an entertained smirk.

I slammed Rin against the wall, careful not to hurt her as I questioned her. "Why the _hell_ did he see you naked!"

She giggled, clearly finding my anger amusing. "Relax. It was an accident. He saw me getting into the shower at my house but I think you'll be fine with this after you hear the good news."

"…This wouldn't happen if you didn't have him at your house." I said, controlling myself.

"Okay Bankotsu, now you can tell him the good news." She said as she turned to him.

I looked to him, awaiting whatever it was that could make me happy after hearing that my rival had seen Rin naked.

"Awww, but that ruins the fun." He said with a smile playing on his lips.

"Bankotsu!" I yelled as he waited.

"Fine, fine. You were right, I can only think of Rin as a sister. I realized that after I saw her naked yesterday." He said, looking to me with an honest expression.

I felt my fume diffuse as I looked to Rin and she nodded sweetly.

"Wow, you're right. That did make me happy." I said, surprised.

He laughed. "Now for the other bad news. Me and Rin are living together." He said, his voice cheery.

That was it! I grabbed Rin's hand and pulled her away into the hallway. I heard Bankotsu's laugh echoing behind us.

I slammed Rin against the wall once more. "That's it. If you're gonna be with him at home, you gotta be t me with school. All day." I said seriously.

She giggled as she draped her arm around my neck and gave me a peck on the lips. "Don't mind if I do."

I smiled at her as she continued. "But we don't have any periods together since we're in different grades."

"Well than at least go on a date with me today." I offered.

She smiled brightly. "Ya' know, I actually was thinking about that just yesterday."

"Where do you wanna go?" I asked.

"Hmmm, how about my old amusement park?" She asked.

I smiled as I draped and arm around her shoulder. "Lead the way."

"Now? We're skipping school?" She asked.

I grinned at her puzzled expression. "Yupp."

Her eyes sparkled. She leaned into me as we made our way to my car. When we got in I turned to her.

"Ya' know, I'm expecting to see you naked sometime now that Bankotsu has." I said, entertained at her fearful expression.

"N…No way!" She shouted, blushing at the idea.

I chuckled. "Fine, then we'll make it an accident. Just let me know the next time you go in the shower."

"Never!" She replied, crossing her arms playfully.

"Never shower. That wouldn't be very healthy." I joked.

"No, I mean you'll never see me naked, Silly!" She said with an adorable smile playing on her lips.

"No? Did I forget to mention it's opposite day? No means yes." I replied, beaming at her expression.

"Then yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES! _YES!_" She said, pounding her tiny fist into her lap.

"Good. Then when would that be exactly?" I asked with a smirk.

Her eyes widened again. "But…But you…"

I chuckled at her and turned back to the road. "So where exactly is this old amusement park of your's?" I asked.

She giggled. "It's not old. It's just old 'cause it's where I used to go. And it's that way." She said, pointing left.

I followed her directions and we talked for the rest of the thirty minute drive it took to get there.

When we arrived I looked around to see that it was quite large. I could see how easy it would be to get lost in a place like this and I wondered for a moment how accident-prone Rin was able to come in here before _ever_.

We walked toward the entrance casually and found that it was surprisingly cheap. I suppose Rin's old small town had some perks.

I handed the female worker a credit card and an ID as she stared at me with hungry eyes. Had I not met Rin, I would have jumped at the opportunity to flirt with the cute honey blond, however, with Rin in comparison, her normally flattering features were disgusting.

"Is that you're little sister?" She asked, looking at Rin through the glass with a smile.

"No, this is my girlfriend." I replied, taking Rin's hand in mine.

The girl looked surprised before turning back to me. I ignored her and looked down at Rin to see her staring at the girl nervously. I wondered if she actually considered the girl _competition_. What a ridiculous thought.

As we stepped into the park, Rin squinted at a figure walking a couple yards away.

"…Rankotsu?" She asked carefully.

The boy turned around and his face gleamed. "Rin! What's up?" He asked, walking toward us.

"Nothing. I'm just here with my boyfriend." She replied, pulling her hand up to show that we were holding hands.

His eyes widened. "You go a boyfriend?" He asked, fake enthusiasm showing clearly in his voice. It was obvious that the thought made him unhappy but knowing Rin, she probably didn't notice.

"Yeah, it's our first date actually." She said cheerfully.

"Wow, first you get a boyfriend and now you're skipping school. What happened to my sweet and innocent Rin?" He asked with a smile.

I didn't like the possessive voice he used to refer to her. "She's still sweet and innocent, just not yours." I replied bitterly.

The boy looked up at me, showing his dislike for me clear on his face.

"Sesshomaru, this is Rankotsu, my best friend from when I lived over here." Rin said, directing a hand toward him. I nodded and sized him up for a moment. It was obvious that he had unrequited feelings for Rin that probably still hadn't gone away. I gripped Rin's hand slighter tighter.

"Well, it's too bad you got a boyfriend. I was hoping that if we met again we could go out." He said, looking for some form of her regret for having gotten a boyfriend. She showed him none.

"You're funny Rankotsu. I miss your sense of humor." She said with an innocent laugh.

He frowned. "I'm not joking, Rin."

Rin's eyes went wide and she looked to me, almost as if she was scared.

"Ummm, I have to go." She said, her mouth agape as she pulled my hand for me to follow her.

As soon as we were out of hearing distance, Rin looked up at me with tears forming in her eyes. "You were right. I had no real friends. Even my best friend, who I thought of like a brother, still ended up only wanting to be my friend so I would like him." She bend into a fetal position as I squatted down next to her.

"You know, Rin. When I said that your guy friends all wanted you because they wanted to go out with you, it doesn't mean that they didn't wanna be friends. Even though I'm your boyfriend, I still wanna be your friend." I assured her.

She smiled at me weakly before standing back up. "Yeah, even if they don't only want me as a friend, it doesn't mean that they were never my friend."

I put a hand on her shoulder as we began walking. We looked to the line for The Heartbreaker.

"Let's go on that one! It's my favorite." Rin said, smiling brightly.

I nodded. We began walking in that direction before Rin stopped.

"Can we go potty first?" She asked, looking up at me with innocent eyes.

I chuckled before directing her in the direction of the restrooms.

While Rin was in the restroom, I walked into the guys restroom, finding that it was so crowded there were lines everywhere.

I stood behind a fat, hairy man standing with his son as I waited.

Rin POV:

When I came out of the restroom, Rankotsu was standing there.

"Hey Rin. Why'd you leave so soon earlier?" He asked with a smirk.

I shrugged shyly before being slammed against the wall and having his lips forced onto mine. I was having total déjà vu of when Bankotsu had done this except Bankotsu hadn't know me before, therefore, he was only doing it because that was the type of person he was back then but he's changed, I thought that Rankotsu would be there _last_ person to do this. I knew Rankotsu. _This_ wasn't Rankotsu.


	5. Chapter 5

***HEY GUYS! :D Haha sorry, I know it's been a really long time since I updated, long for me anyways, but I've been really busy with cross country and soccer and stuff plus I'm not allowed to get on the computer on weekdays :/ There's my excuse, believe it or not. Lol jk :3 Thanks for reading you guys and enjoy(: R&R please!***

I attempted to push him off to no avail. I'd already known that I was too weak to take care of myself, however, I refused to allow myself to be the annoying, helpless princess that Sesshomaru always had to protect. I struggled to tear away from him for several more seconds before he immediately pulled away from me. I opened my eyes in confusion before seeing that he wasn't the one who wanted to get off of me. It was of course Sesshomaru, coming to my rescue once again. It was a bit of a bruise on my non-existent ego to have no control over who took advatage of me. I looked to the floor in slight embarrasment but mainly anger due to my old best friend's actions.

I snapped out of it when I heard the sound of several punches being thrown. I looked up to see Sesshomaru and Rankotsu going at it, Sesshomaru of course winning by a landslide. I wanted to pull Sesshomaru away, however, my mind was telling me that Rankotsu deserved everything Sesshomaru was giving him. I pushed back the negative thought quickly and replaced them with what my heart was saying: Rankotsu was good once, he could be good again. I ran into the middle of it and placed my hands on Sesshomaru's chest to tell him to keep away.

Sesshomaru groaned in anger. "Rin! Why do you always have to help the ones who are trying to hurt you! For once, just let me handle this!"

I shook my head in protest. "No. I don't want you to hurt him. I want to help him, he's my friend." I saw Rankotsu smirk from my peripheral vision, I ignored it.

Sesshomaru looked at me in what seemed to be annoyance, I wasn't sure who it was directed at, but hoped it wasn't toward me.

"Rin, honestly, why do you have to get involved in every lost cause that you think you can save? Not everyone is worth your effort. Hell, I'm your boyfriend, you're supposed to take my side!" Yup, the annoyance was defiantly directed toward me.

It didn't take me over a second though to evaluate what he said and think of a comeback. "I saved you, what makes you think I can't save any other 'lost causes'?" I asked, using air quotes around the words that he's used to describe what I assumed he considered Bankotsu and Rankotsu to be.

He looked a little stunned by my reply and went quiet for a moment. "That's right, bastard! Ain't got nothing to say now, huh?" I heard Rankotsu say from behind. I rolled my eyes at the fact that Rankotsu didn't feel the need to speak up until Sesshomaru was under control.

Sesshomaru growled, causing Rankotsu to take a step back. I turned to Rankotsu in the next moment. "You remember my phone number from before I left, right?" I asked. Sesshomaru gaped from behind me in disbelief. I giggled to myself at his childish reaction. Rankotsu nodded at me slowly, almost as if he was wondering why I would even act as though I still trusted him after what he'd just done. I wondered that a little myself, but remembered that I had given Bankotsu the same trust, and now he was one of my closest friends. I wasn't willing to give up on someone who had once been such a good friend just because of an unfortunate meeting.

"Good." I replied with a smile. "Call me, I wanna talk to you. You can explain to me exactly what's been going on that you've changed so much from the boy I used to know. You're always going to be my friend, no matter what you become." I explained. His expression seemed to soften slightly to my relief.

I turned to Sesshomaru who still looked a little confused. "Are you ready?" I asked him with a smile. He took a short pause before composing himself and taking my hand as we walked away. I waved over my shoulder. "Bye Rankotsu!"

I turned back quickly seeing him looking almost star struck. I giggled before turning back to Sesshomaru. Looking at him after all the commotion was over reminded me of what had just happened. Sesshomaru was forced to save me…again. The thought made me feel a little unworthy. I was so weak; so stupid; so reckless. I released his hand quietly as I turned to look at the ground.

It wasn't even a moment later that Sesshomaru turned to me and asked "What's wrong?".

Rankotsu POV:

I continued to look in the direction Rin had gone in minutes after she had left. She was the same as I remembered: Innocent and trusting. The only difference, if anything, was that she'd become more beautiful. She was the most amazing girl I'd ever known. I knew that, even before today, however, I'd always wondered exactly how much of a friend Rin was. How far would she go to keep someone who she believed to be "good"?

I laughed bitterly to myself at the irony of the word. I hadn't been anywhere near "good" since Rin had left. Perhaps when she was here I wasn't a terrible person, she kept me away from my problems. Anything that was wrong, I didn't even have to confess to Rin that there was a problem, she already knew and would fix it for me, even if the only thing she could do was make me feel better about the situation, before I even had a chance t go into my stupid childish complaints.

When Rin was here, she was made aware of my cousin that happened to be a gang banger and drug dealer ever since he was 12, and guess who he wanted as a new addition to his gang: Me, of course. She only knew of him because of the various times he'd attempted to hit on her in front of me, of course she was oblivious to this, she merely thought he was being friendly. He only did that to make me angry. I suppose he thought "If he won't join you, annoy the hell outta' him.". She did, however, know that he was into gangs. She'd always assumed that I was better than that, that even when she was gone I would have the willpower to stay away from them. How could I without her help? The answer: I couldn't. I joined into my cousin's gang not even three days after she was gone, started selling drugs less than a week after, and started sleeping around less than two weeks after. I has officially become a gang banging, drug selling player.

I would have been able to keep my innocence had Rin still been there, her presence made up for everything that seemed to be lacking in my life. However, without her there, I tended to look to girls more as tools, and everything else along with them. I hadn't realized how bad I was until I was already in too deep. I came out of my thought as I remembered what Rin had said. She expected me to explain everything that had gone on since she was gone…How was I capable of admitting to any of that to my adorable childhood friend?

Sesshomaru POV:

"What's wrong?" I asked Rin immediately after she released my hand. Her silence told me that she was expecting me to guess at what she was upset about. I was willing to do that. I went through several options in my head before coming to what had to be the obvious conclusion.

"Alright. I'm sorry about saying that your friends are lost causes. I suppose it's your own choice who you help and don't help. The idea of having to save you from people like them just makes me mad." I said, almost positive that was her reason for silence. She paused for a moment before replying.

"That's just it. It has nothing to do with what you said; it's what you did." She said, not making eye contact.

I tilted my head in confusion. "What?"

She sighed. "I don't like that you're always having to save me. I should be more capable of defending myself."

Her reply surprised me. She was upset that I'd _saved_ her? It took me a moment to comprehend what she meant. She wasn't exactly mad that I'd saved her, she was mad at _herself_ for having to be saved. I chuckled at her mind set before telling her what I felt she needed to hear at that moment.

"Rin, women aren't meant to be able to defend themselves. Especially not you. You're perfect the way you are. I don't want a strong Rin that is able to take care of herself, I like the weak Rin that always needs me." I said with a comforting smile.

She looked up at me for a moment before mumbling something that sounded like "Well maybe if I wasn't so weak, I wouldn't always be attacked." I chuckled to myself.

She smiled at me before taking my hand once more. "Thanks Sesshomaru." I smiled back at her.

"So you'll always be there for me? No matter what?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

I laughed lightly. "Always and forever." I said, using a cliché that boyfriends had been using for years. It was different for me however; I meant it.

She smiled sweetly before pointing ahead enthusiastically. "I wanna go on that one!"

'Oh boy.' I thought to myself with an entertained smile.

***Sorry for the short chapter you guys :/ It's 10 o' clock on a school night and my mom keeps nagging me to go to bed I didn't wanna leave you guys without a chapter though this week cause my faithful and loving fans (yes, I'm trying to flatter you) deserve at least that much. Don't worry though, I'm gonna finish this chapter up next weekend. I'm even kinda getting into the story lol I don't know what's gonna happen next either, I make things up as I go XD Haha by the way guys, this might help you guys a little, but just so you know, making me feel guilty about not updating is the most likely way to get me update. Lol that doesn't mean to start leaving all these comments talking about how I'm a terrible person for not updating, just remind me that I need to put my mind back on my writing. I need a kick in the butt to encourage me sometimes. Haha anyways thanks guys! Nighty night! R&R Please! :D***


	6. Chapter 6

Hey Guys :D I'm writing a new chapter just like I promised! :3 Lol I just got back from my cross country meet(: 12:22 for 2 miles! :P Haha anyways, here's the update! Hope ya'll like it! :]

Rin POV:

We went on the Boomer two times. As soon as we stepped off we realized that it would have already been lunchtime at school and were reminded my growling stomach. I paused as I looked down to my stomach and then up at Sesshomaru. He had a smile playing on his lips before I followed after him and we both began busting up in laughter.

"I think I might be hungry." I stated playfully.

Rankotsu POV:

With the day's events, and the fact that the trip had cost me virtually nothing considering I'd managed to sneak in, I decided to go home. I wondered when Rin expected me to call her. I decided I should just call her after the park was closed so she could finish up her date with her new _boyfriend_. The word burned like an acid on my tongue as I began walking to the exit. As I did this, two girls came up to me with flirty smiles that screamed "I'm down for anything". We managed only a short greeting before I slung my arms around both of their shoulders. I hadn't had a three sum in a while, had I?

Rin POV:

The night was over before I knew it. They apparently closed at 9:00 and it was already 8:45. Everyone around us was slowly heading for the exit so we followed as we kept up an easy going conversation.

"You sure you don't want it?" He asked, referring to the charm bracelet I'd been gawking at in one of the souvenir shops.

"No thanks. It was really pretty but I don't wanna feel like a moocher." I replied with a smile.

He smirked playfully. "Apparently me and you have different opinions on that matter." He said, pulling out the purple and silver charm bracelet from his right pocket.

I stared at the ornament for a moment before looking up at him. "Sesshomaru!" I said, beaming, as I jumped into his arms like a child cheerfully.

He chuckled as he set me back on the ground. "I figured you wouldn't mind if I went ahead and put aside your rejections. How is a guy ever supposed to get his girlfriend anything if she keeps rejecting everything she loves just because she's scared of 'mooching' off of him?" He asked jokingly.

I giggled before looking up at him once more. "Thank you, Sesshomaru!"

He shrugged. "Next time you want something, don't be afraid to ask. I would never want to pass up an opportunity to make you happy."

I grinned as we continued walking toward the entrance. 'I have the best boyfriend in the world', I constantly repeated in my head.

When we got back to his car it was about a twenty minute drive home. We used all of the time to talk animatedly about different topics. I stepped out of the car after a quick kiss on the cheek before realizing the problem with today: Mom. I gulped nervously before stepping away from Sesshomaru's car, not trying to worry him with my fear. He looked at me suspiciously before speaking.

"Is something wrong?"

I shook my head, trying to look convincing. "No, not at all. I was just thinking."

His suspicious look persisted but dropped after a few moments. I waved good bye as I stepped inside nervously. Mom wasn't the type of person to blow up when her child was late, she was more likely to get worried. Her losses had made her weak. I wasn't scared of her, I was scared _for_ her. The door creaked open as I looked through the narrow crack.

"Mom?" I asked carefully. I heard no reply so I walked in completely and closed the door behind me.

"Mom…?" I repeated. I heard steps upstairs. I began walking upstairs and looking around. I opened her bedroom door cautiously but what I saw in there wasn't Mom. In a way it was, but the hitch in my heartbeat, the silence of my once heavy breathing, and the gory scene in front of me wasn't Mom. It was instead a man I'd never known in my life with a bloody knife in his hand and naturally-white walls covered in red.

The man looked up at me, stunned, before picking up the gun and pointing it at me with no trouble. I didn't react. I stood my ground, knowing that if my entire family was either dead or killed there was pretty much nowhere for me to go and nothing for me to do but die. In a way, this man would be doing me a favor. I was surprised when my normally cheerful thoughts turned dark. I noticed his finger pulling on the trigger several times; nothing happened. He looked up at me for a moment before looking back to his gun with an almost confused expression.

He was about to leave, I could see it in his eyes, but I didn't really want that right now. Call me selfish, but for the first time in my life, I was actually willing to give into the will of whoever wanted my life to end up like this. I saw him began moving his foot toward the door, a fast action but it was moving slow in whatever timeline I was currently living in.

"Wait. Why are you leaving? It's not like you need a gun to kill someone, right? Can't you just do it with your hands?" I asked in an attempt to stop him. I was surprised by my confidence, I never felt capable of talking to adults, or anyone else for that matter, in any fashion other than at least slightly formal. He paused to look at me, seeming to consider the thought for a mere second. It didn't take him long, however, to keep his first decision of leaving. He dropped his gun and ran out in a rush. I looked in the direction he'd gone in for who knows how long. I didn't have the will to look at Mom's dead body quiet yet. I instead, decided to focus my attention on something a little more bearable. I looked to the gun lying on the ground only feet from me. I picked it up slowly in curiosity of exactly how prepared the man was for the murder. I checked his bullets; he still had five left. He'd only used one on Mom. One small, cheap piece of metal was responsible for Mom's death. A moment later, another thought came to mind: He had five bullets left. He'd pulled the trigger at least five times. They couldn't have all been duds, that was impossible. I stared at the pistil for a few more moments before coming to a conclusion: perhaps there was someone who wanted me to live past this, someone who wanted me alive more than anyone else wanted me dead.

I decided to keep that thought in my head to push away the depressing thoughts I could hear in the back of my head. It was now time for the hard part. I hesitantly looked to Mom's already pale body. I crawled over to it slowly as I hovered over it. It didn't seem so hard, however, to see her like this. I suppose it was because I'd already experienced family deaths several times before, or maybe it was just because me and my mom hadn't had a very close relationship in the past however long it'd been since Dad died. For whatever reason, I still felt my eyes moisten as I let a silent tear slip down onto her chest. I wondered what should be my next action. Every time something like this had ever happened to me, I'd always had at least one person to support me, even if I was having support them more than they had to me, I would still rather have experienced any other death in the family two times over with someone with my during the event rather than being alone.

My thoughts were interrupted by the vibration of my cell phone. I let out an exasperated sigh as I wiped away the few tears that lay on my cheeks. I cleared my throat to get rid of any indication of crying as I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Rin. It's Rankotsu. I have an explanation for today and I need you to listen." I heard a male voice say from the other line. Now was time to stop focusing on what had just happened. I would possible have time to mourn later, right now was time to focus on Rankotsu's feelings.

Rankotsu POV:

""Rin. It's Rankotsu. I have an explanation for today and I need you to listen." I told her. I paused for a moment for her reply.

"I'm open for anything." I heard her say. She sounded almost like she was trying to keep from crying. It couldn't be my fault she was crying, could it? I ignored the thought an began explaining to her exactly what had been going on ever since she'd left.

"After you left, let's just say I got lonely. My cousin's gang seemed really appealing at the time. I joined shortly after you left, surprising, huh, for someone who'd always mentioned how much will power she thought I had? Well anyways, I didn't hold back at all. I got into the entire gang scene not even two weeks after you left. I'm not the same Rankotsu as the one you knew, he was a good guy. I'm not better than my cousin anymore. I'm weak without you Rin, my only _real_ excuse for what I did is that I haven't been myself lately. If you want someone to blame though, blame yourself for leaving me behind for the past few months. It's been the most miserable time of my life." I told her, perhaps I was being a little harsh, putting all the blame on her. It was true though, with her as my inspiration, I could have been as good a kid as ever.

She paused, seeming to absorb it all before speaking. "Well Rankotsu, to start, I honestly never believed that you had any will power. However, I knew it made you stronger to think that I believed in you. In a way, I knew you wouldn't be the same if I ever saw you again. And in reality, that's the real reason I didn't want Sesshomaru hurting you today: I knew that the new you was partially my fault for leaving you behind." She explained.

It hurt to know that she'd never really believed I would have the strengths to keep away from my cousin without her encouragement, but I was happy that she didn't put all the blame on me for what I'd become. She was the same old Rin: always protecting me and making me feel better. No matter what she'd been dealing with at the time, she always put it aside for my sake. I remembered back at the beginning of our conversation when she's sounded like she'd been crying. Perhaps it wasn't my fault, now that I think about it. There could be a lot of things running through Rin's mind besides me.

"…Rin. Serious question: You sounded like you'd been upset about something earlier. What was it exactly?" I asked carefully.

Her breathing hitched as she seemed to be considering whether or not to tell me. A second later, she came to a conclusion as she took a deep, but seemingly held back breath before explaining. "…I just saw my Mom die."

It took me a moment to understand what she meant. It had to be something else. There _had_ to be some hidden meaning behind her words, she hardly seemed to show any emotion over it. How could it be considered fair for one young girl to deal with stress and anguish that could be distributed between thousands of people? Why did _everything_ happen specifically to Rin? I was sure she'd thought the same thing at some point; either tonight or some other time in her misfortunate life.

I paused before speaking the first question that came to mind. "What are you going to do now?"

She seemed to consider my question before replying with a serious answer. "Well I'm going to keep it from the authorities for as long as I can. If they find out that my entire family is gone then they'll just put me in a foster home."

The solemn silence continued for another few moments before I asked my next question. "Where will you live?"

She seemed to have already given this some thought considering she replied right away. "I'm thinking of living with Sesshomaru. He would make a good host for the next few years I think, at least until I'm old enough to live on my own."

I nodded silently, not giving any worry about Rin's innocence while living with the older boy. He seemed like a good enough guy that he wouldn't take advantage of her situation. I could tell how much he cared about her by the threatening look he given me when I'd kissed her.

Rin was the next to break the comfortable silence. "I forgive you for whatever it is you thought you did that was so bad. I could never hate you. You should hear how I met my best friend, he was planning to do much worse to me than you did."

I smiled to myself at her ability to forget the wrong that someone had done to her, no matter what it was. I was slightly curious of the boy she'd talked about who was her current best friend. I wondered if he'd had a similar life to my current one before Rin had come in.

We spent the next five hours or so, I'd lost count eventually, in casual conversation. It felt nice to talk with her like old times for the first time in what felt like years. We brought each other up to date on current events in our lives, talked about what we hoped for our futures, and any other miscellaneous details that could be easily forgotten in the few months that we hadn't seen each other in.

Our conversation was abnormally comfortable considering the death of her Mom that same day. We didn't end up getting to bed until after five in the morning. We gave each other a comfortable goodnight and went to bed. I was happy to be back in the friends stage with Rin with only a short conversation. I decided to talk to my cousin about possibly quitting the gang sometime tomorrow. I wondered what the outcome would be considering one: My cousin constantly jokes (though I've never been quiet sure whether he's joking or not) about the only way of getting out of a gang being to kill the member, and two: He was my only home. My mom had kicked me out shortly after I'd become affiliated with gangs and told me she didn't want me to come home again no matter what the circumstances. I'd taken refuge from him, however, I wasn't so sure he would allow that after I told him I wanted to quit.

Rin POV:

Our night continued with casual conversation. I was happy to be able to have a normal conversation with someone who wouldn't act as though I was a different person after the loss of my family.

Sleep felt like it lasted ten seconds in total when I woke up at ten o' clock to the sound of rain pouring down outside of my window; the idea seemed slightly ironic due to last night. I pushed the thoughts of last night to the back of my mind and decided to give Sesshomaru a call. He picked up at the fourth ring.

"Hello?" I heard him say.

"Hey Sesshomaru. What's going on?" I asked, trying to sound casual as to not come across the real reason I'd called.

"Oh, hey Rin." He began after realizing it was me. "Not much. I'm just sitting on my ass." He joked.

I laughed as I continued. "I guess I didn't call to make small talk. I needed to tell you something…Well actually, I more need to ask you a favor." I re-phrased as he replied.

"What is it then?" He asked, not seeming to like the idea of beating around the bush.

"Could I stay with you…for a while, I guess." I asked hesitantly.

He paused, seeming a little surprised by my request. "Is there some sort of problem at home, Rin?" He asked seriously.

"…You could say that…" I told him, not willing to say the thing that I'd known and already repeated out loud once since last night.

"Get on with it, Rin!" He said openly.

"Mom was murdered last night." I told him slowly. The idea seemed as though me losing my mother would affect him more than me.

His breath cut. "Were you there?" He asked, recomposing himself almost immediately.

"I came home but I only saw the man with the knife. My mom's still lying in her bedroom…it's starting to stink." I said with no hint of humor in my tone as I realized that my mother was indeed starting to rot just as any other diseased woman would.

"…Give me a minute. I'll be right over." He said quickly and I heard the phone hang up less than a second after that.

I looked down at my phone for a moment before closing it and looking out the window. It seemed like a heard my front door open, no knock, not even five minutes after that. Is it just me, or does time move differently when something like this happens?

I decided to meet him half way but as soon as I stepped out of my bedroom door he was there. I gasped but recomposed myself quickly and looked up at him. "Let's talk." He said simply, leading the way back downstairs. I followed after him without hesitation.

He took a place on my couch and looked to me for company. I sat down beside him.

Sesshomaru POV:

I looked down at her in an almost formal way, seeing as this seemed like it should be a solemn time.

"You wanted to come live with me?" I asked carefully.

She nodded silently.

"Have you reported the homicide yet?" I questioned professionally.

Again, she shook her head. I was a little surprised by this, seeing as reporting the event would normally be the first thing any young girl currently living by herself would do in her situation.

"Why not?" I asked, willing to let my confusion be known.

"They're just going to send me to a foster home. Mom was the last existing part of my family even relatively close to me. No aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, or anything else for that matter anywhere close to this side of the world." She explained.

I nodded in understanding, however, I was still a bit confused. "Why would it be so bad to go to a foster home?" I asked, seeing as I figured I could merely take her in as a foster child.

She paused before replying, seeming to find a reasonable response hard to think of. "…It would make the entire situation to real. I would prefer to at least be able to pretend that I have some blood relative left."

It wasn't until then that it hit me: The only reason that she was able to deal with everything that would turn so many girls her age dark depressed was because she blocked it out. She didn't let herself become sad over it. She never gave herself a chance to stop and merely be sad over all that happened to her; even for a second. She didn't realize it herself of course, but she was in denial.

"Rin…" I began cautiously. "Have you even taken any time since last night to stop and cry over what happened?"

She shook her head, slightly this time. "Only a little." She told me.

"Why only a little?" I interrogated.

She then looked up at me with the most mature expression I believed I'd ever seen on a young girl and replied: "I don't see a reason to."

I gaped at her for a moment before blinking once and fixing my expression into a more serious one. "…It's okay to cry, Rin. No one's expecting you, or ever wants you to be happy _all_ the time. I _want_ you to cry. It's scaring me to see you so strong after an event like this. _Please_, break down like any other person would!" I begged honestly. I saw a tear fall down her cheek before she began to sob into my lap. It was sad to see her cry, but it's always better to come to terms with the issues of your life rather than avoiding them.

Rin POV:

It seemed as though all of the emotions I'd been hiding for the past several years, ever since Brother's death, then Dad's, now Mom's were exploding out through with those mere words from Sesshomaru, informing me that it's perfectly fine if I cry. I sat on his lap for over an hour, my concept of time seemed to be returning considering I was aware of how long I'd been there, mumbling pointless words such as 'it's not fair' and 'everything's messed up' along with several other things. The first half hour or so had been none stop crying, I eventually controlled it slightly and it turned more silent, however, every once in a while a quick sob would escape my lips. I'd always been scared to actually take some time out of my so called "busy" life to have a good cry. I'd lied when I said I saw no reason to cry. I just never wanted to, I'd always thought it would make me feel weak. I was surprised, however, to find that I felt much stronger and refreshed having gotten out my childish complaints about life and its previous event.

When I was finished, I realized what so many people meant when they'd said "sometimes a good cry can really make you feel a lot better, even if your situation is the same as it was before'. I looked up at Sesshomaru with what I was sure would be bloodshot eyes by now and gave him a weak smile. He was looking down at me admirably before speaking.

"Feel any better?" He asked.

"Much, surprisingly." I told him cheerfully, jerking up from my position enthusiastically. And for once, I felt as though my enthusiasm wasn't merely a façade for the sake of the people around me.

"I was hoping you would. Listen Rin. I want you to come to me whenever you feel like crying. Whether the reason is rational or juvenile, I want to hear all of your problems." He told me calmly. I don't think he had any idea how important those words were to me at that time. I was always going to remember him saying that, whether it be tomorrow or twenty years from now, I would come to him with all of my problems as he requested.

"Thank you Sesshomaru." Was all I could manage at the time. He gave me a handsome smile before looking up. "It's almost 11:30. I think we should take things easy for right now and just wait a while to get things sorted out. I guess we should just leave the body there for now until you're ready to call the cops about it."

I nodded before standing up to stretch. It only took me a moment to realize that I was wearing the same thing as I was on our date last night. "I need to change." I told him quickly as I jogged upstairs. I saw him nod to me out of the corner of my eye.

I passed by Mom's room quickly, seeing that it was already beginning to stink. I wondered how long it would take the neighbors to call the police about the stench. When I came to my room I picked out what I would normally consider play clothes, consisting of a light blue spaghetti strap and yellow cotton shorts. I ran back down stairs in mere minutes to see Sesshomaru sprawled across the couch with the T.V. remote in his hand. "Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention to make yourself comfortable but I'm glad to see you took the initiative." I joked with a smile. He chuckled in response.

I sat down casually next to him. "So am I gonna move into your house for now?" I asked, referring to the only question that was actually important at the time.

He sat up, seeming to consider the thought. "Why not?" He said casually.

I chirped cheerfully before getting up half a second later. "Okayyyy~ I'm gonna go pack my stuff." I told him as I practically skipped upstairs.

Sesshomaru POV:

"Why not?" I told her, being slightly irresponsible. I knew that it could only be for a short time, whatever she believed would happen was probably wrong. Most likely, no matter how conveniently things could possibly go, she would probably still end up having to get put into a foster home within the next month. And when she did, I would of course take her in. But for now, whatever she wanted settled with me. As long as you understand that there will be consequences then you'll be prepared to face them when they come, and for the time being you can be slightly immature in not considering your actions. I could only hope that Rin understood that there would be consequences.

Rin came downstairs in about an hour with two large bags with I suppose what would be all of her clothes and whatever else she planned to need sometime during the time she was living with me. "Is that everything?" I asked.

She nodded cheerfully. I stood up and stretched slowly. "Then I guess we're ready to go." I told her as I walked over to take her bags. She handed them to me without much hesitation, they were surprisingly light, however. I walked them out to the car with her following by my side. It was an unusual idea, having a girl living with me, let alone a thirteen year old one. It wasn't that I thought of her as immature, exactly, it was more that even when I'd had girlfriends that were actually my age I'd never had any of them actually living with us. I wondered for a moment how Inuyasha would feel about this but decided not to worry about it. I was the older brother and we had no parents living with us to correct my decisions so he had to accept them over most circumstances.

We arrived back to my house in about ten minutes considering the short drive. Inuyasha's car was still in the drive way, I was surprised by this considering he would normally be at work by now. I assumed he had today off, but I was proven wrong when we stepped inside and I saw Inuyasha struggling to pull a pair of work jeans over his boxers in a rush.

"What the hell, Inuyasha! You're three hours late! Couldn't you at least use your own room to dress. Rin's here." I told him, covering Rin's eyes as she grinned childishly. I chuckled at her reaction.

"Sorry Dude. I'm kinda in a hurry. And why the hell is Rin here?" He asked, using his "formal" tone but still sounding uninviting, I was sure, to Rin.

"She's gonna be living here for a while. Deal with it." I told him simply.

"Whaaat!" He asked, tripping over himself as he finally managed to get the jeans to his waist.

"I'll explain when you get home. Just get to work already. You've been late three times this week, I'm surprised your boss hasn't fired you yet." I scolded him jokingly.

"He can't. His daughter's been in love with me ever since I started working there." He bragged with a cocky smirk.

I laughed at his attitude toward work. "Whatever." I managed to work in as he stepped out the door with a bagel in his mouth and a pair of shoes slung over his shoulder.

"You can watch some T.V. if you want. I'm gonna take your stuff to the guest room." I told her as she nodded in response.

I wondered exactly how long Rin would be able to stay here before something got in the way. I leaned on the wall of her room casually in thought.

Later that night

Rin POV:

Inuyasha had finally arrived home from work. I heard him and Sesshomaru arguing different reasons as to why I should and shouldn't stay. Inuyasha pretty much went silent when he heard that Mom had died. That was the first time I'd seen Sesshomaru's brother in any state other than humorous of sarcastic. He was actually trying to make me feel _welcomed_.

It seemed as though Sesshomaru and Inuyasha knew nothing about cooking and ate out pretty much every night. I decided to take over the responsibility of cooking, seeing that I'd known how to cook since I was eight. I made them hamburgers, considering that seemed to be the only real _food_ they had in their house that you could actually use to cook. They mentioned my "advanced" cooking skills at least five times during dinner. I assured them that it was nothing and quickly changed the subject to avoid the spotlight. When we were done eating I washed the dishes by hand, seeing that they didn't own a washing machine. When we were done we all watched T.V. together for another hour or so before going up to bed.

I only sat in bed for a couple minutes before more thoughts of Mom started to kick in. It's not as though I didn't expect to miss her, it was just that I didn't expect to lose her. She was the first family member I used more than a couple tears to think about. Mom had never been very supportive with situations like this; especially considering I'd become so good at concealing my true emotions. She thought that the façade I was putting on was me; she never looked close enough to realize the differences of happiness and a show of happiness in her own daughter. She'd been struggling with the same problems as me, however, she didn't have an issue with letting hers be known. Had she been here to attempt to help me through this, she probably would have only said something like "We'll get through this" in that dead tone of hers.

A tear slid down my cheek as I thought about what Mom would have said had she been here to help me through the loss of herself. What if I don't get through this? Every other time there was someone I could be sure would be my guardian from then until I was eighteen. What if this time Sesshomaru wasn't able to keep me for that long? What if he didn't want to? Was I a burden? A tear slid down my cheek as I considered that. Did he think of me as just an annoying kid? I pushed back the thought but the tears kept coming. Enough! Sesshomaru had told me to come to him every time I needed to cry. I would be disobeying him if I didn't come to him when he was so close. I got up quickly, stumbling in the darkness. I recomposed myself, however, I was pretty sure at least a couple things had dropped in the motion.

I worked my way over to Sesshomaru's room slowly, dragging my blanket across the floor, not knowing where I was going and not wanting to turn on the lights to disturb anyone. I finally found his room and opened the door slowly, causing a loud creek. I hushed the door but Sesshomaru was already sitting up and looking at me with sleep filled eyes.

"Rin? What are you doing in here?" He asked in a husky voice that would belong to anyone who'd just woken up.

"Ummm…I'm sorry for waking you up, but you said to come to you every time I felt like I needed to cry…And I kind of feel like I need to cry…" I told him hesitantly.

My nervousness left me when I heard the sound of his laughter. "Do you want to sleep in here for tonight?" He asked.

I looked up at him with wide eyes before nodding vigorously. "Could I please! Just for tonight?"

He chuckled. "Of course." He said, sliding over to the left side of the bed to give me room.

I pulled my blanket with me as I made my way to his king size bed and crawled in. He was faced away from me, and seemed to already be falling asleep again before I was even completely situated. I wasn't exactly sad anymore, but I was a little scared of the new large house I was currently staying in. I casually draped my arm over his side to comfort myself and remind me that I wasn't alone. He seemed to stiffen at this motion.

Sesshomaru POV:

Was she actually getting to me! When I'd suggested she sleep in here I wasn't expecting any skin contact. I can handle being in the same bed, seeing as I could ignore the fact that someone else was in the bed, but it becomes more difficult when she makes me so aware of her presence.

I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to fall asleep fast but it wasn't helping anything. I glanced back at her and she seemed perfectly comfortable with the situation at hand. I spoke up with a slight movement of my arm to wake her up a little.

"Rin…I think you should actually sleep in your room tonight." I told her carefully.

She paused for a moment, not seeming to understand the reasoning behind my statement. "Why?" She asked innocently.

I decided to be honest with her, as honest as I could be anyways, without making her think that her boyfriend was a huge pervert. "Uhhh…Well I don't know about you, but sleeping in the sa,e bed as you makes me a little uncomfortable."

She seemed a little upset by my statement. "Do I have to? Your house is kind of scary…" She told me hesitantly.

I paused before sighing. "I guess you don't have to. Just try to get some rest." I told her, closing my eyes again. I felt her head move against my shoulder, which I assumed was her nodding. I made my decision then: Rin wasn't staying here another night. Not if this was the risk we ran every night she was here.

Morning

I hardly got any sleep that night. I woke up around 7 and decided to be the one to report Rin's mother's death in order to get her out of my house as soon as possible. Don't misunderstand. I loved having her around constantly. I loved the homemade meals. I loved the entire idea of her being here…except for the temptation. Rin didn't wake up until 10 or so and when she did I was already downstairs. She walked down with bed head and an adorable sleepy expression.

"Morning." She greeted as she made her way over to the kitchen.

"Morning." I greeted back.

"Where's Inuyasha?" She asked casually.

"Work, believe it or not." I joked.

She laughed as she drank a glass of water that she'd just poured from the fridge.

"Oh, you might wanna start packing anything that you took out of your bag. The police are gonna be here around noon to pick you up." I slipped in.

She stopped in her tracks. "…Why would they be doing that?" She asked suspiciously.

"Because I called them." I told her simply.

She set down her glass of water and began running to the front door. I had no idea why the idea of leaving upset her so much but I chased after her as she flung open the door and began racing down the street.

Rin POV:

Tears were already soaking my face almost directly after he told me he'd called the cops. Why did he do that? Did he really hate having me here _that_ much! I attempted to wipe my eyes as I ran but it only made it more difficult to move and I could see Sesshomaru chasing after me from my peripheral vision, screaming for me.

Sesshomaru, you told me I could come to you whenever I need to cry. What am I supposed to do when you're the one who makes me cry?

Hiya Guys(: How was that chapter? Bit of a cliff hanger, huh? Lol it's a little shorter than my other ones but I wrote a couple days ago so I figured this would suffice…or at least I hope it does . Haha anyways, thanks for all your reading and support! I really appreciate it! :3 R&R please! :D


	7. Chapter 7

*****It's actually only been a week since my last update but I have a new story idea in my head (off of fanfiction) and I wanted to finish up this one so I could start on that :P That doesn't mean that I'm gonna put any less effort into this story, however, this is going to be the LAST CHAPTER! It's been great writing for all of you, and I appreciate your patience with my mistakes and late updates (hahaha that rhymes: mistakes…updates…lol =) Anyways, I'm really glad to be finishing up this story and I hope you guys enjoyed it(: Please enjoy the last chapter of Too Young to Play With Us! :D*****

Rin POV:

I continued to run but it was obvious he was catching up to me. I only made it a couple more feet before he swept me off the ground from behind. He sat down on a park bench with a very frustrated and fussy Rin in his arms. He placed me on his lap and wiped away my tears. He looked at me for a moment before speaking.

"Why does it seem like such a bad idea to you to tell the cops about this? They're going to find out eventually anyways." He told me.

I sniffled quickly before speaking. "Yeah, but at least if they did find out and I ended up being taken away from you, I would at least know that we were trying. You telling them so soon is like giving up." I told him, fighting back my tears. I knew I sounded immature, but for the moment I didn't care.

"This isn't giving up. It would be worse had they found out about your Mom's death and that I was keeping you with me. As far as they would be concerned, I killed your Mother and took you hostage and you'd just be another case of Stockholm syndrome." He said, seeming to understand a little better how I was feeling.

"…So what's going to happen now? I'll be going to an orphanage and be taken in by a stranger?" I asked, still sounding a little ticked off.

He chuckled. "You honestly think I would let that happen? Of course not. I'll take you in as a foster parent until you're eighteen."

I paused, my mouth slightly agape. That was actually a _good_ idea. Not the kind that you would put just a little bit of thought into either. He must have been considering options since last night. I smiled at him before standing up.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru." I said, not being able to explain even half of my gratitude in those three words. He cared about me. He was going to take care of me.

He stood up after me and took my hand as he led the way home. I had about an hour and a half until they got here due to my slight tirade. When we got back I put back the few things I'd unpacked since last night. We spent the remaining time thinking of how to explain the situation: He would say that my mother had died last night but I didn't know until this morning because I was spending the night at a friend's house (We'de already gotten Kanna to agree to covering for us on that if needed). When I found out this morning, I called my slightly older friend Sesshomaru and he called the police almost immediately after.

When we were done planning everything out, we spent the last twenty minutes or so we had merely talking. I was sure it wouldn't take long to be taken out of the orphanage with the way Sesshomaru made it sound. However, if it did take around two weeks or so, the realistic case, then Sesshomaru would be my last friend I would be seeing for a while.

We heard a knock on the door in the middle of our conversation. I gulped but swallowed it quickly as I saw Sesshomaru opening the door. He greeted them with a fake smile. I sat as comfortable as I could, knowing that their penetrating gaze was upon me. I felt as though I was being dissected as the poor orphan girl. I didn't look up until I heard one of them ask me a question.

"Was she your last remaining bloodline?" The cop on the right named with a badge reading Martinez.

I nodded shyly. "A…As far as I know." I told him.

I nodded back without hesitation as he looked to Sesshomaru and whispered a few other things I couldn't hear. It made me mad that they thought they had to hide any part of the situation from me, as though that would make me feel better. I knew about all of this before anyone else! It was unfair that they thought they had the right to keep whatever my future held away from me just because I was younger than them.

One of the cops motioned for me to get up and follow them. I held up a finger as I ran upstairs to get my bags. The officer shook his head and told me in a rush that the only thing I was allowed to take was the clothes on my back. I sighed in frustration. They wouldn't even let me take what was mine. The stuff I'd had before and was going to have_ after _these so called "helpful men" left my life. I made a slightly sour face before setting my bags down. I followed them out the front door as Sesshomaru gave me one last smile and I saw him motion "I'll come get you soon" with his lips.

I slid into the uncomfortable seat of the cop car. I wondered why they had to take me away with this, seeing as 1: I was no criminal. And 2: I was going to an orphanage, not prison. The drive there was silent and it took less than ten minutes until we arrived at what looked like St. Mary's Orphanage for Children. I wanted to gag at the name, seeing as I would never consider myself an orphan. Even with all of my family gone, I still had Sesshomaru. Even if Sesshomaru were gone, I'd still have Bankotsu, Rankotsu, and all of my other friends. Even with all of them gone, I would still have myself. Even if that didn't sound like much, it seemed a lot like how I'd been living for a long time before Sesshomaru had come along.

I was led into the building by a sympathetic looking woman in a white coat. I was a little upset by everyone around me thinking that I needed to be looked down upon and taken care of seeing as I had "bad circumstances". I thought of Bankotsu. If they wanted to see what someone with bad circumstances, look to him. He'd gone through much more than I had and he still manages to hold his head up high.

I walked into a room with a mere bed and an interesting looking boy about my age. He had good face and what looked to be a good body. He had the kind of face that you can tell would look great with a smile but you could tell he never showed it to anyone. There were thin walls in-between us and what I assumed to be another room with however many other kids. The woman with me directed a hand to the boy in front of me. "This is Byakuya. His parents died about four months ago and we haven't found a home for him yet. He's your roommate so try to be friends." She explained before stepping out, seeming to have more important matters to attend to.

I gave a small wave along with a smile. "Hi." I cheered.

He grimaced at me."What are you so happy about? Your parents are dead, right?" He told me as he climbed into his bed.

I didn't let what he said effect me. I stuck to what I'd thought when I first met Bankotsu and Rankotsu: Every bad attitude is bad for a reason, and it's never too late to find out and fix whatever the problem is.

"Yeah, but it's alright. I'm gonna have the best guardian in the world as soon as he comes to get me." I told him cheerfully.

"And how can you be so sure of that?" He asked, seeming only to be giving me half of his attention.

I paused. "Well, I'll tell you why if you promise not to tell anyone here or I might get in trouble."

He laughed bitterly. "I don't think you should be trusting me with any of your secrets so soon." He told me.

"…Why not?" I asked in confusion.

"Because I don't like you." He said simply.

I cocked my head to the side. "Why not?"

"Because…You shouldn't be like this. Your entire damn family is dead. Doesn't that bother you at all!" He asked, anger showing through in his voice and expression.

"…Not really. My only family left was my mom anyways and we didn't talk that much. Besides, it's not good to be upset about things for too long. Think about your life. Do you have one little thing you could be happy about?" I asked, holding up a finger with a smile cocked to the side.

"Nope." He said, obviously not caring what I had to say right now.

"Well sure you do! I can think of one thing right off the back." I told him with a grin. I sounded a little over-joyed for my situation. However, like I said, it's not good to be sad for too long and having someone to cheer up was exactly the thing I needed to make myself happy when I was feeling upset.

He looked to me for a moment, seeming a little amused for a moment before his expression fell once more.

"You have a roommate now who wants to be your friend." I told him. He grimaced.

"I don't wanna be your friend." He said, turning away.

My face puckered out to the side. "That's alright. Almost none of my recent friends have wanted to be my friends at first. I think I have that affect on people." I said, smiling to myself as I thought of everyone in my life who'd acted similar to him.

He didn't respond. He laid back in bed, closing his eyes but I knew he wasn't going to sleep just yet.

Byakuya POV:

Who the hell was this girl who thought she could come in my room that I'd been alone in for the past four months? Why did she act like there was no problem? Was she mental? I had no idea of any of her personality traits other than that she was one of those overly happy, overly excited people that you only meet once or twice in your life. I hated her for that. I'd been like that before my parents had died, seeing that I'd had the perfect life. As soon as they died though, that went away. She maintained her smile though, even _after_ her own parent's death. That was why I couldn't stand having her near me. I wanted what she had.

She sat on the bed next to me, seeming not to care that it was a totally rude motion. "You know, I love people like you. Pretty much all of my current friends were like you at one point. All of them warmed up to me though relatively quickly." I glared at her for a moment before she caught on.

"I'm not saying that you're going to be like them…but I hope you will be. It's not good to be sad." She seemed to be thinking for a moment, whatever she was thinking made her expression fall slightly. "…I wanna see your smile!" She said grinning. My eyes widened as I shook my head and turned away from her.

She seemed amused by my reaction, so she kept pushing it. "Come onnnn, just a little one." She teased as if her and I were long time friends. I was sure that in her eyes we would be eventually. I wondered for a moment if people like her were used to being rejected for any such thing as friendship. I looked back on the days that I'd been like her, however, I never remembered being rejected. My good looks and personality had kept me away from that for as long as I could remember…So why was she pushing friendship so hard? I knew for a fact that if anyone_ had_ ever acted like this to me I would have given up on them within the first few moments of meeting them. Maybe that was the different between my old happiness and her current one.

I came back to reality and looked up at her with her beautiful, child like smile that pissed me off more than ever. I pushed her off in frustration. She fell to the floor with a loud thud and I was sure someone would come in a moment due to the fact that they'd known for a long time about my violent nature. "Cut it the hell out! I'm not your damn friend so stop acting like I wanna be! I don't even want you in here so don't think I'd be afraid to hit a girl!" I yelled, knowing that as long as she's gonna rat me out it might as well be worth it.

She looked about ready to cry but recomposed herself a moment later. She looked at her feet that sat in front of her, the same way a child would sit after scraping their knee, and looked up at me with a smile. I was a little taken back. Why wouldn't she be mad? The same woman who'd brought her in came in within the next couple seconds. Rin looked up at her as the woman looked at me in disappointment.

"Did he hurt you?" She asked her.

Rin shook her head, "Why would he ever do that? He's nice. We were just horsing around. Sorry if it got a little out of hand." She told her, standing up quickly and bowing to the woman traditionally.

The woman seemed a little surprised before turning to me suspiciously and them turning back to Rin. "…Alright. Just let me know if anything goes wrong."

Rin nodded with her child like smile. "Yup."

The woman stepped out a moment later, breathing deeply in what seemed to be relief.

"Why'd you lie? Good girls don't lie. Especially about something like that." I asked in confusion.

Her smile didn't vanish as she spoke her next words. "Who said I'm good?"

My mouth was slightly agape. "O…Of course you're good." Was all I managed.

"Nope. To be honest, I'm not even a truly happy person. It's been a façade my entire life. Well, not quiet my _entire_ life, only since my big brother died when I was little. Him and me were so close that it killed me when he died. Then my dad died and my mom pretty much a zombie from then on. I saw my mom die a couple days ago and she was the last of us. Wonder why I'm such a happy person? Now you know." She said.

My eyebrows were furrowed together. I wasn't as confused as I looked. I was a little relieved though, knowing that she wasn't as sweet as she seemed. She was similar to me in the way that she'd been so disheartened by her family's death that she lost her true happiness. The only difference was that she had the heart to keep trying to at least allow people to _think_ she was happy.

Which brought up my nest question. "Why do you fake it?"

She paused for a moment. "…I suppose it's because I've always told myself 'never let anyone see you frown'. Of course I've broken this rule a few times, but it's much better than selfishly worrying people with your real emotions. In case you're wondering, yes, I'm talking about you. You aren't the only one you're affecting with your constantly bad attitude. Think of all the poor women here that have watched your sour expression for the past four months you've been here. They must feel terrible. Not to mention that's probably what's keeping you from being fostered. Smileeeee!" She told me, being as legit as anyone had ever been with me. Not only had she had the nerve to confront me about my bad attitude within the first few minutes of meeting me, but she actually _cared_ enough to do so.

I gave a small, mediocre smile. It was, however, enough to make her happy. She smiled widely. "That's better! Now promise me that whenever you see anyone from now on you'll smile. I'm the only one you can come to with your disappointments. Got it?" She asked.

He expression at that moment caused me to grin. I nodded. I actually felt human for the first time in months.

Rin POV:

Me and Byakuya remained friends. I told him everything about Sesshomaru and how he was going to come to pick me up any day now. My stories seemed to make him happy so I kept telling them. It'd been a week since I'd gotten there and I hadn't seen Sesshomaru come by even once. I went through the possible reason why he wouldn't come but had been able to mark all of them down as impossible or very unlikely. I was at a loss. Byakuya constantly old me that everything would be okay and he was probably going through paper work as we speak. He was my encouragement. Unfortunately, telling him to smile worked better than either of us thought. He was adopted within two weeks after I'd come and there was still no sign of Sessomaru. Byakuya was my only friend in the orphanage. I cried buckets when he left but he assured me we would see each other again. I was now not only alone but I had no one there to assure me that Sesshomaru did, indeed care about me and he wasn't going to leave me there for some stranger to pick me up.

I kept telling myself that Sesshomaru was coming, however, all hopes were put to rest when a woman came to me one day during lunch. "There's a man who wants to have a look at you, Rin."

I smiled widely as I ran out to the lobby to see if the man was Sesshomaru. My heart sunk when I saw a man, probably about twenty five, sitting in the lobby. He wasn't bad looking, but had a strange aura about him. I stepped back before accidently bumping into the woman who'd escorted me out.

"Rin, this is Mr. Tashiki. He's thinking about adopting you." She said with a smile. I shook my head, first hesitantly before it became more persistent.

"No! Please don't let him! I don't want to leave yet!" I yelled, tears forming in my eyes rather quickly.

She smiled kindly, looking a little upset at the idea of having me leave, seeing that I'd been the most polite and cooperative child in the orphanage, so it seemed.

"Now Rin, I'm sure that you've come to like the orphanage just as we've come to like you, but the entire purpose for you staying here is so we can find another home for you, and here he is." She said, trying to make the idea of leaving sound tempting with a smile.

I was about to object once again before realizing: There wasn't much I could say. What were my options? There's a guy that I've been dating and want to live with and he's supposed to pick me up but decided that he probably doesn't want me anymore, however, I still want to wait for him. As good as that sound, I don't think they would be very willing to allow me to stay on those pretense.

I gulped before taking a few careful steps toward Mr. Tashiki. "H…Hello." I greeted shyly.

"Hello Rin. I've heard great things about you. Would you like to come home with me?" He asked with a warm smile.

I thought it over for a moment. What would Sesshomaru say? "Don't be so picky on who you stay with. I don't want you anymore so just take what you can." That didn't seem like Sesshomaru. However, who knew how he's changed since he's told me those comforting words: "I'll come get you soon." And it was true. I shouldn't be so picky. I wouldn't have a lot of chances to leave this orphanage. I closed my eyes in thought for a moment before opening them and nodding briefly.

"Great! I'll take that paperwork if you don't mind." He said, turning to the woman beside me.

She nodded, pulling several sheets of paper from behind her back. "Since you've already filled it out, you can have it. However, it's better to keep it due to the fact that we may need to look to some of your information later." She told him with a smile.

He nodded, before reaching a hand out to me as a father would do. I took it as he led me out of the building.

"Thank you, Sir! We'll miss you, Rin." She called from behind us. I wondered what Byakuya would think, knowing that I'm leaving. He'd probably be happy for me.

His house was about a twenty minute drive from the orphanage. On the way there, he harassed me with questions such as :Where did you grow up? Or who were your original parents?

When we arrived, his smile faded. I looked to him with confusion but didn't ask any questions. I looked to see if there were any other cars parked. I didn't see any and questioned if he lived alone. No wonder he wanted a foster child. He pulled his key out of his blazer pocket and opened the front door. As soon as I stepped in after him, he locked the door.

I didn't question his actions, seeing as many people locked their doors when they came home. I did, however, realize his true intentions when he spoke his next words.

"Drop your clothes." He told me. I cocked my head to the side, before understanding flashed across my eyes as I saw him began to unbutton his shirt.

I shook my head in slight disbelief before bolting for the door. He chased after me less than half a second later. I struggled to unlock the door but managed to open it and began running down the street. This man, fortunately, wasn't nearly as fast as Sesshomaru or I would have been dead.

As soon as I turned a corner I hid in a pile of garbage. It smelled fowl but I managed it for the next couple minutes until I knew he was gone. I fumbled my way out and looked around quickly, there was no one around so I stepped out. I decided to go in the opposite direction as him. Seeing as that was also the direction of a Dairy Queen I'd seen on the way and I happened to know that specific Dairy Queen was only about a ten minute walk to Sesshomaru's house and I had a few questions to ask him. I started running just in case Mr. Tashiki happened to be anywhere near me. I didn't make it far, however, before I slammed into something hard. The paranoid part of me assumed it was Mr. Tashiki, and I immediately tried to push away before looking to see who it was.

"Rin!" The voice said, grabbing my arm in a rush. I tried to struggle away but they persisted. "Rin! It's me, Bankotsu!"

I blinked twice as I stopped pulling away and looked up. Sure enough, Bankotsu was standing in front of me, just as I'd remembered him. He was the first friends I'd seen in weeks. I pulled him into hug. He did the same, however, it was cut short with his next words.

"Where have you been! Sesshomaru's been looking for you for the past two weeks!" She scolded.

I looked up at him with my eyebrows furrowed together. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"He planned to wait a couple days after you left to call the orphanage so he wouldn't look suspicious. But when he called, the same woman always answered the phone saying that they didn't have anyone there named Rin. We're still trying to get that all figured out. When Sesshomaru went by today, he was told that you'd already been adopted. When he looked up the man she said had adopted you though, we found out that he's a convicted child molester. We're sure now that him and the woman who allowed him to adopt you are working together for some reason. All we need is proof of that to get them both arrested." Bankotsu told me.

"That explains why it was such a quick process. I figured it would take at least a week for everything to get sorted, but as soon as he came by, I ended up going home with him." I said.

Bankotsu nodded before flicking me on the nose. "Ow! What was that for?" I asked with a pout.

"That's for whatever you were probably thinking about Sesshomaru when he didn't immediately come to get you. As much as I hate to admit it, he's a descent guy. You should have seen how much he was freaking out when he didn't know where you were." He told me. I smiled. So he did care about me. He hadn't given up.

"Can you take me to Sesshomaru's house?" I asked.

He nodded. "Sure, but he might not be there. As far as I know, he's still roaming the streets like an idiot in love looking for you."

I giggled. Bankotsu pulled out his phone. He dialed one digit, I suppose he'd put Sesshomaru on his speed dial, put it by his ear and started speaking within the next couple seconds.

"Hey Sesshomaru. I found Rin. She's fine and I'm taking her back to your house." She said. "Yeah, I know. You're welcome." He said, hanging it up quickly.

He led the way back home. I quickly realized that I'd forgotten to inform Bankotsu about _any_ part of the situation. He was living with me all this time and I'd actually forgotten to tell him that I wasn't going to be home.

"…Ummm…Bankotsu, I kinda forgot to tell you…about everything." I said hesitantly.

"Yeah, I know." He said, chuckling. "You're so scatterbrained." He joked.

I laughed. "Where have you been staying all this time?"

"Sesshomaru. He said it's better for me to be there to…keep him in check." He said, seeming to be laughing at some private joke.

"Keep him in check for what?" I asked.

"…Nevermind." He said, attempting to cover his laughter with a cough.

I shrugged it off. We spent the rest of the walk back in conversation. When we got there, Sesshomaru was already outside waiting for me. I jumped into his arms.

We didn't say much. He just listened to whatever I had to say about what it was like in the orphanage. He nodded at some points and laughed at others.

A couple minutes later, Rankotsu walked out of Sesshomaru's house with an amused smile. My eyes went wide at the side of him. He lived on the opposite side of town. What was he doing here?

He laughed at my expression. "Well, my cousin kicked me out. Your boyfriend, here, decided to take me in though." He said, stepping closer. I smiled up at Sesshomaru. He's purposely surrounded me with everyone important to me…Almost everyone. I remembered Byakuya from the orphanage. I put my head down for a moment before bringing it up with a smile. "Who wants to go on a walk?" I asked, knowing that I needed to clear my mind.

Sesshomaru nodded, taking my hand, as Bankotsu and Rankotsu followed. The first few steps we took, we crossed a nice looking house. I stared at it for a moment in though before a buy stepped out. My mouth hung open as I examined him closer. There was no way that could be Byakuya! I told myself to stop daydreaming before I heard the buy talk.

"Told you that you'd see me again!" The boy said with a smile. My eyes unintentionally went wide.

He ran out to us with a smile. "Mind if I join in?" He asked, stepping into the group as we all continued walking down the street.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He chuckled. "I got adopted by the couple in that house." He said with a smile as he pointed to his new home.

"Are they good to you?" I asked with a small smile.

He nodded. I smiled wider. This was the most predictable, cliché ending ever. However, I wouldn't want it any other way.

I looked to my right and saw Bankotsu and Rankotsu, two boys who'd once had disappointing lives now laughing freely. I then looked to my left to see my boyfriend, Sesshomaru and friend Byakuya smiling at me as if all was right in the world. I knew what Mother would say at that moment: "You've surrounded yourself with all of these good people because you're a good person." However, Mom was wrong. The truth was that God had given me them as gifts. They were my new family.

All is well, Mother. Don't worry. You've left me in good hands.

*****Hahaha I don't know how you guys liked the ending but it made me happy to write it! I'm glad to be finished (Don't get me wrong though, I loved writing it) and I hope you guys enjoyed it! :3 Cliché? Definitely! Haha if you don't like clichés then I'm sorry :/ Anyways, It's been great hearing what you guys think and please review one last time for this chapter. Even if it's just one word, I wanna hear :D I wanna become an author when I get older and I think this story has helped me get closer to that goal ^_^ Love you guys! Thank you all so much for reading! Byeeeeee!*****


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